


Skyrider

by Ein_Nachkussen



Series: Skyrider [1]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Action & Romance, Alternate Universe - Spies & Secret Agents, Angst, M/M, Mystery, Spies & Secret Agents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-27
Updated: 2017-04-22
Packaged: 2018-09-12 15:21:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 42,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9078526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ein_Nachkussen/pseuds/Ein_Nachkussen
Summary: Arthur Kirkland, otherwise known as Agent King, is the best spy that the UK has to offer.However, after a tragic incident that changed his life for the worst, Arthur struggles to come to terms with what happened to him and struggles against powerful inner demons brought upon by his traumatic experience.However, Arthur is called to the United States to help the CIA solve the kidnapping of a Canadian agent by a Russian terrorist, and save the world along the way.Arthur is partnered with American agent Alfred F. Jones, who happens to also be battling inner demons of his own. Can Arthur solve this impossible kidnapping while struggling to forgive himself and re-learn to trust others along the way?





	1. Bloodloss

Arthur Kirkland had the honour of being known as one of the best agents that the United Kingdom has to offer. He had spent years building a career within the MI5, specialising in domestic counter terrorism intelligence gathering, with a particular skill in solving high profile kidnappings. He worked alongside his older brother, Allistor, and the pair had become popular within the intelligence and national security community.  
However, they could never take personal credit for their work, to the world outside of the MI5 officers; Arthur was known as ‘Agent King’, whereas Allistor was known as ‘Agent Knight.’ These were codenames that they chose themselves, and were quite happy with.  
Agent King and Agent Knight had become well known as they have thwarted assassination attempts on hundreds of political figures and solved kidnappings that had the world captivated.  
And they were working on one currently.

The case was that of the kidnapping of the Greek diplomat to the United Kingdom, he went missing just over a month ago, and his office suspects the worst. He was taken from his apartment, there is no video footage in the apartment block of anyone entering or leaving the building from the conventional entrance. Suggesting that his kidnapper came in through the windows, and left with the diplomat through them. His family and embassy had received a monetary ransom, which explains the reasoning for the kidnapping.  
However, it was quickly obvious that the crime was committed by a criminal who was already well known to the brothers. This criminal mastermind had illustrated kidnappings and assassinations all over the city and mainland Europe, all while avoiding capture and notoriety. Every time Allistor and Arthur encountered him, he would always manage to slip away from them, whether he had managed to outrun them, pick the locks on his handcuffs, or slip out of the police vehicle upon his arrest. This man made Arthur’s blood boil with rage.  
As the investigation to their current kidnapping case continued and it became clearer that the criminal mastermind was involved, Allistor and Arthur were led to an abandoned factory in the middle of their bustling home city of London. 

The dark London alleyway was silent and empty, only bins and rubbish were littered across the black and wet concrete that the brothers stepped on. Vehicle and human traffic was abundant on the roads that crossed past the alleyway, as though the rest of the world was moving on without them as the brothers worked. They saw the dark steel door that served as the back entrance to an abandoned shoe-making factory.  
After looking back once more to check if the coast is clear, Arthur stepped past the door and Allistor ducked behind him and began to pick the lock of the door.  
Allistor and Arthur had been working together for years, and according to their records: they work together well, much to the amusement of the other agents.  
Despite the fact that they only shared a father, they both inherited his eyes and eyebrows, whereas Allistor inherited his Scottish mother’s passionate red hair. However, no matter how old they got, people could always tell by looking at them that they were brothers. 

To him, Allistor was a role model and a friend; he always had been when they grew up. Sure, when they were young, Allistor was an asshole who would happily beat Arthur up over the most minor of inconveniences, but when they matured the young men became the best of friends.  
Arthur would never tell Allistor, but he was happy to work with him.

Arthur kept vigilant as his brother silently picked the lock, unlocking it within record speed. The large metal door creaked open and the agents slid into the darkness, adapting to the change and being ready to face any threat. As silent as mice, the agents crept in the darkness, avoiding any light that came in through the dirty windows. The entire factory floor was riddled with dirt, wood and rubbish, whilst being packed with crammed together work benches, as the factory had gone out of business decades ago. Allistor and Arthur spread out to more effectively check every corner of the factory for any place where a master criminal would hide his hostage.

Their job was to locate the diplomat, take down anyone in their way, and get the diplomat to safety. More police and other agents were waiting outside for them, waiting for the call for them to enter and secure the building. 

Suddenly, the agents froze when a spotlight travelled along the floor as someone walked towards the agents, having not noticed them yet. Arthur and Allistor fell to the floor before hiding underneath some of the working stations. Arthur watched the persons legs as he walked by, unaware of their presence.  
As soon as he passed Arthur slid out of his hiding space and followed his footsteps like how a cheetah would stalk prey. And then Arthur struck. Before the man even realised something was wrong, Arthur had his arm wrapped around his neck, pulling him into a chokehold. Arthur used all of his strength to pull the victim down before he could so much as make a sound or struggle against Arthur’s hold. Eventually the victims fight stopped and Arthur could see that he was unconscious; Arthur dragged the man underneath the closest work station, effectively hiding his work. 

Before rising from his knees, Arthur looked at Allistor to see his brother already looking at him, awaiting the signal to continue.  
Arthur pointed to his eyes with two figures, before pointing them around the room; telling his brother to be vigilant.  
Allistor nodded, getting the signal before he and Arthur resumed their journey towards the back room of the factory, where more doors and a staircase opened more space for the brothers to explore.  
When they reached the wall, before making their way towards the staircase, Arthur noticed a light coming from underneath the door of one of the breakrooms, a light that was too bright to be coming through the windows. Arthur and Allistor looked at each other, and silently mutually agreed to check this out first before moving any further into the factory. Just in case if it’s either the diplomat, or people who can be arrested in relation to his kidnapping.  
Arthur and Allistor shuffled towards the door, taking their handguns out of their holsters as they pressed their backs against the wall. 

Something about this situation didn’t sit right with Arthur, it felt wrong but yet there was no way he could turn back now, it would be stupid to leave this alone now.  
Arthur noticed Allistor looking at him, awaiting his approval to begin the storming of the room, and Arthur provided that crucial nod.  
With one heavy kick from his mighty black boot, Allistor kicked the door open, revealing a standard sized break room with one weakly hanging light bulb that hovered over the centre of the room. Underneath this light was a figure sitting on a wooden chair, with his hands trapped behind his back and a brown straw sack over his head. The figure was dressed in a ripped, dirty and bloody blue business shirt, black pants and black business shoes; he perfectly fit the description of a kidnapped Greek diplomat.  
However, something didn’t seem right, the man was completely alone … this was not usual for a kidnapping case. In silence Arthur and Allistor glanced around the room, unsure of how to treat the situation. They busted in the room expecting to see a firing squad or kidnappers who were ready to defend their hostage. 

It was Allistor who broke the silence, “What the—“ 

Suddenly a loud noise echoed through the room as the ceiling above them shook before giving way. Arthur cried out as they were swallowed by a cloud of dust and debris as the ceiling collapsed around them. 

“FUCK!” Arthur right cried before he and Allistor fell to the floor under the weight of a large piece of concrete and ceiling plaster. Before he knew it, he was breathing in the thick dust and choking as his chest was ripped into by a sharp piece of debris. Arthur screamed in pain as he was crushed under the weight  
Arthur wheezed in pain as the dust finally settled, with minimal damage being done to the rest of the building. It was as though the section of roof above Allistor and Arthur had been destroyed and collapsed on top of them. 

“ARTHUR!!” Allistor cried, sounding as though he was in as much pain as Arthur.  
Arthur couldn’t move, he wheezed in pain, feeling his chest be crushed under the weight of a large piece of debris. Arthur pushed against the piece of cold and rough concrete, wheezing as the pain roared through his entire body as he tried to push it off of him. 

Arthur screamed in pain as when the piece of heavy concrete slid off of his chest, it left behind a horrid rip across his chest. Before Arthur could realise how badly he had been hurt, his chest was completely stained with the bright red colour of his blood. Arthur gasped as his entire body tensed, seeing the damage that was done to his chest, he watched as more and more blood dripped out of the long wound on his torso. Arthur became cold as he felt the blood drip down his side, before pooling on the floor. 

“Allistor…” Arthur wheezed as he looked around the room for any sign of his brother, anything to tell him that he was ok… But what he saw surprised him, the rest of the breakroom was untouched, including the man who still sat in the chair, hunched over with the straw sack still on his head. The light flickered as Arthur’s vision became dizzy.  
He attempted to push himself out of the pile of rubble that trapped his legs… however, the pile was too heavy, and Arthur was in too much pain to sit up and try again.  
He was trapped.

Suddenly the man stood up and revealed his hands, which he had simply been hiding behind his back, instead of being tied up like a real kidnapped victim. Arthur eyes widened when he noticed that in the man’s right hand, he held a black handgun…  
Arthur whispered in pain as the man lifted the sack off of his head, releasing his long glossy blonde hair and revealing his face. The man’s sky blue eyes narrowed as he smiled down at Arthur, satisfied with his work. Arthur felt like prey that had just been caught in a bear trap, and the man before him was the hunter…  
Arthur knew this man as soon as he saw him, and it only confirmed the Englishman’s suspicions of the identity of the Diplomats kidnapper. And it was then that Arthur realised how much danger he was in. 

“Bonnefoy…” Arthur growled. 

“Agent King!” Francis beamed, greeting Arthur as though he was an old friend, “Or should I call you Arthur Kirkland…?”  
Arthur’s eyes widened, realising that the master criminal had learned his true identity, who knows what else Francis knows about him.  
Francis tilted his head to the side as he chuckled, enjoying Arthurs reaction like the bully that he was. Francis smiled down at Arthur as he walked towards the debris where Arthur laid trapped, as he walked closer, Arthur tried his best to put on a brave face. He refused to give this French criminal the honour of seeing him afraid…  
“Do you know how long I’ve waited for this, Arthur?” Francis asked sinisterly, playing with the handgun that he held in his hand, “You and your brother have been thorns in my side for years!”

“You bastard…” Arthur growled, not backing down, “the diplomat is dead, isn’t he?”

“God, you are annoying. I stand before you with a gun, and yet you ask about him?” Francis asked, confused, “but, if you must know: yes, you are chasing a dead man.” Francis knelt down so his face hovered not far above Arthurs. Arthur stared at Francis as the Frenchman stared at him, taking a good look at his face.  
Arthur couldn’t deny that Francis was a handsome man, only someone in bitter denial would claim differently. His sculpted jaw was littered with a lightly coloured shot beard. His long blonde hair bracketed his face, and his blue eyes shone despite the darkness that the Frenchman hid behind them. “Heh… I should have kidnapped you…” Arthur frowned, unsettled by how the Frenchman smiled at him. 

“Leave him alone… you FUCKER!” Allistor wheezed from somewhere behind the pile of rubble, momentarily catching Francis’ attention. “If you hurt him…” 

“Heh…” Francis chuckled, completely ignoring Allistor’s empty threat. “You’ve lost, Agent Kirkland. To be honest, I’ll miss our little adventures… Oh well.” Arthur gasped as Francis stood up and pointed the gun down at Arthur, with a dark smile curving his thin lips. Arthur wheezed and tried to cry out, but his throat would not allow him to make any noise, he was in shock from the blood loss, and from the fear of his situation.  
Arthur’s eyes widened as he realised that he was crying, he was defenceless as his worst enemy stood before him holding a gun. He was going to die…  
“Au revoir, Arthur Kirkland, I will miss you…” 

“NO!!” A man’s voice roared as a figure jumped over Arthur and ran into Francis, standing between Arthur and the gun as the Frenchman pulled the trigger. The figure stumbled as Francis stepped back, surprised by the figures movements. The figure fell to his knees, and that’s when Arthur saw the figures fiery red hair and realised who it was. 

“Allistor…” Arthur whimpered as he saw his brother glance back at him and smile confidently, despite just being shot in the stomach. Without hesitation, Francis pressed his gun against Allistor’s head and pulled the trigger, performing the execution.  
Arthur froze as red stained his eyes, watching as Allistor fell back, landing next to him, spraying his blood all over Arthur’s face and chest. Arthur couldn’t move as his entire body went cold, his vision blurred completely as all he could hear was his slowing heartbeat and quickened breaths. 

He could hear muffled noises of Francis’ laugh, but Arthur could not move anymore, he stared hopelessly at the ceiling as he felt his blood drip from the wound on his chest, as well as Allistor’s blood as it pooled from his horrific head wound. Arthur saw Francis hover above him again, and he could hear the Frenchman talk to him as he pointed the gun at him. 

“How kind of Allistor, it’s amazing what family will do for family…” Francis said, Arthur’s vision shook, and so focussing on the Frenchman became difficult. “The gesture was cute.” 

Francis was going to shoot, and Arthur was going to die; nothing was going to change that. Arthur felt nothing but coldness, he may as well have been dead already… perhaps he is dead, and it hasn’t come into effect yet… He certainly felt dead…  
Francis pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. The Frenchman frowned as he inspected his handgun, before laughing like he had been the victim of a funny prank. 

“Well! It turns out Allistor took my last two bullets, how embarrassing of me!” Francis chuckled as he squatted down to be closer to Arthur, making it easier for Arthur to see him, with the light creating a halo over Francis’ head. “Well… judging by how much blood you’ve lost, and the fact that you’ve gone into hypovolemic shock… You’re going to die either way. At least I can take the credit for that.”  
Suddenly, red and blue lights flashed through the small window of the breakroom, making Francis frown as he looked through the window.  
“Of course you two weren’t alone!” Francis hissed, “You just had to ruin my moment, didn’t you? Oh well, you’re dying, so I suppose I will be seeing you in hell anyways. I’ll see you again, Arthur.” 

And without another word, Francis was gone, and Arthur was left for dead, with the corpse of his older brother lying by his side. His eyes remained wide open, the need to blink had not occurred to him as he heard people walk around him, frantic voices calling for backup and help… Arthur didn’t know or care whether he was going to survive this…  
And suddenly, everything turned black, Arthur couldn’t open his eyes anymore, nor did he feel himself breathe. 

\----

He didn’t know how long it had been since he fell into the darkness. He felt nothing but coldness in this world of darkness and deathly silence, he was floating instead of walking and he couldn’t tell whether his eyes were open or closed, not like it made a difference.  
However, what was real was the pain he experienced, his chest writhed in pain at every movement he made, and the pain only got worse the longer he continued to make his way through the darkness, to an unknown location.  
He continued to move through the world of darkness, losing memory of who he was and where he came from, all he knew was now. All he knew was that if he wanted to continue living, he had to make it to the end. 

Arthur couldn’t give up now, he refused to give up on his goal, no matter how bad the pain got. Arthur screamed but no noise came out, no matter what he did, Arthur still lived in a world of nothing but silence.  
However, after what felt like forever of journey and pain, Arthur could see a light at the end… 

It was then that he could see the darkness wrap its cold arms around his legs, trying desperately to pull him back to the darkness, where he would stay forever. 

No. 

Arthur was not going to give in, he wanted to live and he was not going to stop until he was breathing again. 

He had too much to live for, he couldn’t leave so much undone. He still had stories to tell, people to meet and people to save. He was determined to live again and not even the grip of death was going to fucking stop him! 

He pulled against the grip that the darkness had against him, and the pain of his chest, refusing to let anything win. 

He did not care about the life that he was going to live after this journey, but he could not let death take him away from it! 

As Arthur got closer and closer to the light, the darkness’ grip on his legs weakened as with each step he took, more arms released their grip on him and retreated back to the darkness to suffer in the eternal silence. 

Finally, Arthur had made it to the light, with nothing to hold him back anymore and no pain to slow him down, Arthur ran into the light and screamed, relieved to hear the sound of his own voice again. 

With the new strength he had gained from his battle against death, Arthur slowly opened his eyes and his blurred vision could make out an overwhelming bright light. Arthur felt his chest painfully rise as he took in his first breath, the cool air rushing through his dry throat and into his pained lungs. His head spun as his vision slowly returned to him, but all he could see was white… Arthur couldn’t help but worry whether he didn’t make it, what if he went the wrong way, and the light meant his death? Arthur hadn’t thought of it that way… He begged that this wasn’t the case, he didn’t want to die, there was too much for him to do! 

“Arthur!” A familiar voice sighed happily.  
Arthur squinted as the noise rang through his ears, making him wince in pain.  
Perhaps he was alive after all.  
But he couldn’t remember anything that had happened to him; he couldn’t even remember his own name, let alone what sent him to hospital. 

Slowly Arthur’s vision returned to him, and as he registered what was going on around him, the more he came to accept the fact that he was alive. Arthur realised that the lights he feared meant death were actually powerful hospital ceiling lights. 

“Ahh…” Arthur wheezed, struggling to make any noise through his dry throat. His eyes twitched as he looked over towards where the noise came from. He noticed that two figures were standing beside his bed, looking down at him. 

“Are you there? Come on, you can do it… wake up, Arthur…” Another voice softly begged. 

Arthur tried again to engage, however he could not ignore the numbness throughout his entire body, it felt like only half of his body is actually awake, his mind being one of the latter. He glanced next to the two figures, to see the first bright colours that he had seen in ages from the bright and beautiful colours that came from the flowers and get well cards that sat on the bedside table. 

After about a minute, Arthur’s vision had returned well enough for him to look at the figures who stood beside his bed. They were both men in dark suits, the shorter having dark hair and narrow dark eyes. Whilst the tallest had hair that was so blonde, it was on the verge of white, with dark crimson eyes and a soft smile, watching Arthurs struggle to wake up. 

“Are you there, Arthur?” The tallest one asked, leaning on the bed enough to hold Arthur’s hand. Arthur responded by trying his hardest to deliver a pathetic squeeze of the man’s hand. “Kiku, call the nurse, he’s waking up.” 

Kiku… that’s right… that’s who Arthur works with, and so the man who held his hand must have been Gilbert. 

Finally Arthur’s memory was beginning to return to him, he works with Gilbert and Kiku, they were agents as well, who worked on the same kinds of cases as Arthur and Allistor, and sometimes the four would work together on particularly hard ones. 

“You’ve made it, Arthur,” Kiku said, leaning over Arthurs bed to look at him, he was smiling, “you did it.” 

“We were so worried that you wouldn’t make it eith—“Gilbert cut himself off by letting go of Arthurs hand and walking around the bed to stand on the opposite side. Arthur took no notice of Gilberts change; he was too busy trying to wake up enough to speak. 

“What…?” Arthur wheezed, finally happy to get a coherent word out. 

“Don’t push yourself, Arthur, the nurse is coming,” Kiku explained. 

As Arthur woke up more and moved more, his mind and memory began to function better. He thought more about his work and what he loved, he loved his brother, Allistor, he thought about when they were kids, Allistor would show him how to properly climb a tree.  
Allistor… Arthur wondered about what Allistor would have been doing now, what happened to him most recently.  
Arthurs body jolted as the noise of a gunshot rang through his mind, and he remembered Francis’ gun being pressed to Allistor’s head before… 

“AHH!!” Arthur screamed, but hardly any noise came out. 

“NURSE!!” Kiku cried, noticing Arthur’s reaction, “NURSE!!” 

He saw the blood again, and looked down at his chest to see the horrid wound again. There was so much blood; the scent had made an imprint in Arthurs nose that was so bad, he didn’t want to breathe. Everything was returning to him again as he reimagined Allistor being executed over and over again.  
Before he knew it, a nurse was by his side, and Arthur returned to his slumber, however, the nightmare had only just begun. 

\--- 

Arthur had to spend months in recovery, slowly building his ability to walk. He felt pathetic, nothing like the proud man and agent that he once was.  
Without Allistor there, nothing seemed fun anymore. Arthur knew that somehow, Allistor would have made this experience bearable, if they had been healing together, Arthur would have looked forward to the life he had in front of him!! 

He felt nothing but anger… why was he the one who had to live, why couldn’t have Allistor been the one of the pair who had made it out alive? 

Arthur knew why, it was because that bastard just had to take the bullet, he HAD to jump in Francis’ way… He was protecting Arthur… 

Arthur cried every night and every day, thinking about how his brother didn’t deserve this, he was stronger than him, older than him and better than him in every way. Arthur was half of a man without him! Arthur had never felt so painfully alone before…  
His chest received a horrific wound that required a lot of stitches as well as his legs being crushed underneath the weight of the debris, he had received multiple blood-transfusions in order to make up for the amount of blood he had lost. 

Finally, after a couple of months and heavy compensation, Arthur finally left the hospital and begun the planning of Allistor’s funeral. 

However, the dreams still haunted him, he still saw Allistor die every single night, he refused to sleep in order to gain some kind of mental peace. But it still did not help, every loud noise scared him and all he could think about was the fact that Allistor was murdered, and he survived it because of his sacrifice. 

Arthur tried to do normal things again, like drinking tea while reading a book or watching TV, but before he could get too far into his activities, the haunting thoughts returned and held him still. The thoughts told him that it was his fault that Allistor was dead, that if he had been smarter; Francis’ trap wouldn’t have worked, Allistor would be alive if it wasn’t for him, and he should have died in Allistor’s place. 

The only thing that would pull him out of these phases of darkness was the attention-seeking of his cat, Charlie. When the small white and orange spotted English fold demanded Arthur attention or food, he was not going to stop meowing, whinging and pressing himself against Arthur’s leg until Arthur was at his beck and call.  
Despite the pain in his heart, Arthur couldn’t help but smile at his darling pet. Allistor loved Charlie as well… 

Allistor’s funeral was the most pathetic thing he had ever seen, Arthur wanted to rage with how little his brother received for the service and the life he gave protecting his country. No family attended, as Allistor’s mother stayed in Scotland after the divorce from Allistor’s father, Arthurs mother had also divorced their father and stayed out of Arthur and Allistor’s lives. For years, the brothers had not seen or heard from their father. 

Their job had consumed so much of their time; the brothers hardly had time for a social life, so very few friends had the social obligation of coming to the funeral. Sadly, not many of their work friends could come either, because no matter how important the person: the world still moves on, and the country still needs to be protected… Arthur could understand that and he knew that Allistor would forgive them. So as a last resort to create a crowd, Arthur swallowed his pride and invited a group of men who were regulars at the local pub who Allistor would talk to while watching rugby games with them.  
Before Arthur knew it, he was giving his eulogy… He was angry that he had to so heavily filter the details of his brothers exciting and meaningful life. 

“Allistor was not only my brother, but he was my best friend. He was there for me from the moment I was born, and didn’t even care about the fact that we didn’t share a mother. I was his brother, and that’s all that mattered to him. Allistor had a personality that was as fiery as his hair, and he was unafraid to tell the world shit as it was. He was the kind of man who could make an impression on someone instantly, and the impression that he has on people is one of fun, inspiration and adventure. He did not care what others thought about his ambitions, he even told our school teacher to get fucked when he corrected Allistor’s dream of being the president of England. Allistor was ten when he said that, that idiot.” Arthur paused for a moment to breathe, holding on tightly to the podium as he stood before the small crowd of people in black, with some faces belonging to people that he didn’t even recognise.  
“Allistor… Allistor didn’t deserve to go, he didn’t deserve to leave so much unfinished. He dreamed of seeing the world and meeting the people that it had to offer. He wanted to be something great. But little did he know that he already was something great. He was my world. Because of him I learned how to be brave and how to believe in myself. And I know that the rest of the world will miss him as much as I do as soon as they realise what a wonderful, smart, ambitious, funny, kind and powerful man has left…”  
He thanked the people who could attend for coming as they lined up to leave the funeral, Arthur could barely look at them as he shook their hands and thanked them for their time. 

However, when the last person reached Arthur, he shook Arthur’s hand, but did not leave after being thanked. Arthur looked up at this person; he was someone that Arthur didn’t recognise, he was shorter than Arthur and had a head of light auburn hair and eyes that shone like amber, the man’s hands were soft and slightly tanned, he smiled softly at Arthur as he bowed his head in respect before speaking. 

“Arthur Kirkland,” The man said, revealing an Italian accent, “My name is Feliciano Vargas, I am from the CIA.” 

Arthur frowned, unsure as to why someone had come all the way from America to attend Allistor's funeral, “right…” 

“The news of Allistor’s passing deeply hurt the members of the CIA; he was truly an inspirational agent whom impacted many of our own agents. We looked up to him and were saddened by the news. You have the condolences of the entire United States of America.” 

Arthur couldn’t help but smile, happy that at least someone at the funeral knew who Allistor really was, and the fact that people in America knew of Allistor made Arthur beyond happy. “Thank you.” 

“I am truly sorry for your loss…” Feliciano sighed and looked to the floor, as though dreading what came next. “But…”

Arthur frowned, “but?” 

“I… I have also come to ask you… for your help,” Feliciano admitted, “you see, and agent of ours has been kidnapped by an extremely dangerous man and we fear the worst. He has been missing for months and all of our efforts to find him have come up with nothing. We asked for help months ago and we were recommended to you and your brother, but…” 

“What?” Arthur asked, gritting his teeth. How dare someone come to him and ask for help at a time like this! 

“We have no other option, we tried looking for other people to help… but… no one can. We need you. We all need you.” Feliciano begged, looking as though he was about to cry. “Please… this young agent is going through hell and we don’t know how to help him, the man who has taken him is so dangerous. We need your help…” 

Arthur frowned, surprised to see that the agent had become so weak over this issue, like it was hurting him personally…  
Arthur felt so angry, he was about to outright refuse the case, he’s gone through too much right now and asking him now is too much, he’s too hurt. But then… how would Allistor feel if he turned this down? Someone as proud as a CIA agent is crumbling before him, swallowing the pride of the entire United States and asking HIM for help, Allistor would have jumped at the chance to help him… How can Arthur deny this?  
This man came to him asking for help, and Arthur wants to turn him away: Allistor would be disgusted, not even grief should stop Arthur from doing what is right, no matter what inner demons he is fighting. 

Arthur could only imagine the horrific details of the case, especially if it was bad enough for an organisation as powerful as the CIA to reach to the United Kingdom for help… 

“Just what is at stake here?” Arthur asked, “How important is it that this agent is recovered?” 

“The national security of the United States of America,” Feliciano replied, his eyes widening, as though he was imagining the consequences of failing this case. “Everything…”


	2. Welcome

“Agent Matthew Williams, one of our newer agents, fairly young at twenty five, he was kidnapped just over seven months ago. All of our resources were put to trying to find him, however we have come back with nothing. We have received no ransom or threat from his kidnapper; we only know who kidnapped him through the testimony of another one of our agents, who was present during the kidnapping.” Feliciano explained as the plane jolted from a small ride of turbulence. It appeared that the CIA spared no expense in having Arthur arrive comfortably; the plane was privately owned by the organisation, as Arthur could tell from the abundance of American flags and the bald eagle symbol of the CIA. Arthur felt himself sink into the comfortable chair looking as Feliciano sat across from him. The conversation momentarily paused as a steward placed their ordered drinks onto the table that was placed between the two agents.

“Was there only one agent who saw the kidnapping?” Arthur asked.  
Arthur was trying his hardest to appear interested; however his mind was still focussed on wondering why MI5 agreed to this. Despite his good will getting the better of him, Arthur dreaded this case; as his wounds were still fresh from the loss of Allistor. 

“Yes, it was another agent of ours, Matthew’s partner in fact. Like in the UK, American agents are assigned working partners as well, however, the partnership is only supposed to last for a couple of years,” Feliciano explained. “You’ll meet your partner when we arrive at the CIA headquarters.” Feliciano sighed, seeing that Arthur was trying his best to remain engaged and focussed on the case, “it really means a lot that you agreed to do this, especially after everything. We cannot thank you enough.” 

The Italians smile warmed Arthur’s damp heart, however he still couldn’t produce a smile, “I’m fine. What is so important about Agent Williams? So much so that his kidnapping risks the national security of the United States?” 

“Matthew Williams originally started out in our reformation program. But the main issue is that if he was to speak to his kidnappers or his knowledge is abused; national security is in grave danger. To put it simply: he knows too much.” 

“What can you tell me about who kidnapped him?” Arthur asked. 

“Ivan Braginski is a Russian national; he has been on Americas wanted list for years, as well as Russia’s. He is notorious for issuing threats and performing kidnappings as well as violent attacks on public places. His agenda stems from childhood abuse and systematic distrust of the United States and international relations. He is a paranoid madman who knows how to utilise terror. You will see all of the information we have on him once we arrive in Washington: he has a really big file. 

“Great.” Arthur hissed under his breath. 

“He is extremely dangerous and has killed hostages before, as well as his own comrades. So you can imagine the concern we have for the welfare of Matthew… the poor boy…” 

“I see…” Arthur muttered, resting his head against the soft cushion of the seat, glancing out the window to see the wing of the plane stretch over a blanket of clouds. “I doubt we won’t see a ransom for much longer. If he has an agenda, he is going to use Agent Williams as a medium to make his threats. The longer he waits, the more he wants. He’s waiting for us to become desperate to hear from him.” 

“That makes sense, however, Ivan has tendencies for violence and thievery; of course he has something devastating planned,” Feliciano agreed. ”It’s been months and we’re becoming desperate. We fear what will happen to him and what it will mean for us. That’s why we reached to the MI6 and MI5 for help, and they responded with a recommendation. However, before we could reach you…” 

Arthur frowned as his chest tensed, knowing that they were intending to get help from Allistor, however, they could only get one half of the legendary pair. “Right.” 

“I’m sorry.” 

“No, it’s fine,” Arthur replied, gritting his teeth as he spoke, as though he was talking to himself more than Feliciano, “I’m fine.” 

Feliciano looked away, obviously feeling guilt.  
But Arthur knew that he couldn’t be able to avoid is brothers existence, if anything, Arthur should be happy that the CIA wanted them both … but yet, his memory brought Arthur pain. And even in his sleep, the pain was unavoidable. 

\---- 

Arthur could feel a rush of relief as the plane landed after the long journey; however he couldn’t help but dread the task before him. He was greeted by a chilly Washington night as he stepped out of the plane. A car was already waiting for the two agents at the bottom of the airplane stairs, waiting for Arthur and Feliciano. 

Arthur couldn’t help but marvel at the grandeur and style of the CIA; everything was pristine and organised down to the very second. Feliciano explained that Arthur was going to be staying in a luxury apartment during his time in America, and once again; Feliciano made sure to point out the CIA’s gratitude towards Arthur. 

With this in mind, Arthur fought to remind himself to stay on duty; he was on a mission to save a young agent from the grasp of a mad terrorist. He shouldn’t take this case lightly.  
Allistor would have been happy to accept the challenge, and would have been proud of Arthur for handling it alone, especially at such a painful time. 

It was very late in the night when Arthur had landed, so he was taken straight to his living space, a luxury two bedroom apartment. Feliciano explained that he will pick him up at eight o’clock sharp, and after that he is going to be picked up and dropped of back to his apartment by his new partner. 

Feliciano smiled as he told Arthur to get some rest, and once again thanked him for coming, explaining that Matthew is a person who is very dear to many agents, and so Arthur’s service is deeply appreciated. 

As soon as the door shut, Arthur turned back and sighed before he rolled his suitcase through the living room of his apartment, past the red and black leather sofas and the huge flat screen TV and past the stylish kitchen, before he settled into the master bedroom.  
Without doing anything else, Arthur collapsed into the bed and went straight to sleep, knowing that he was in for a night of nightmares…  
And he was right. 

He saw Allistor again, crying, bleeding and dying, as though the gunshot wasn’t enough to kill him. Arthur wanted to scream and cry, and kill the man who did this to him, but he couldn’t move.  
He watched the scene play out over and over again, but no matter what he said or tried to change anything, the ending would always remain the same.  
Allistor is dead, and Arthur feels like there could have been something more that he could have done to save him. 

\---- 

The next morning, despite suffering from another terrible night, Arthur met Feliciano in the lobby at the agreed time, determined to appear as the flawless British agent that the CIA needed him to be. 

For his entire life, Arthur never imagined that he would be walking over the symbol of the CIA, he never thought that he would be lucky enough to see his feet step over the powerful image of a powerful bald eagle on the polished marble flooring of the CIA building. Feliciano led Arthur through multiple doors and up multiple levels via the elevator, at every turn Arthur marvelled at the working men and women in tight professional black suits, some even having guns latched onto their sides or underneath their jackets. The women were beautiful and professional, whereas the men attracted Arthurs wandering eye through their fitness and charm. 

Arthur was finally brought into an office, he walked past multiple desks were men sat and worked on their particular cases, before Feliciano finally stopped in front of one room. 

“Now this is the project manager for Matthew’s case, he’s in charge of this entire level of the building,” Feliciano explained before winking as he opened the door for Arthur. “And he may be a little familiar…” 

Arthur frowned Feliciano through a door and into a large boardroom, where one man sat at a large dark wooden oval table, sitting before a laptop that was connected to a projector that sat in the middle of the table, pointing towards a sheet that covered the wall opposite to the windows, which was blackened by thick curtains. The blonde smiled at Arthur as soon as he saw him and stood to shake his hand, surprising Arthur with his impressive height and tight grip. His blonde hair was pulled back tightly with hair gel, and startling blue eyes sat under blonde eyebrows, despite his strong structure and imposing figure, the man smiled sweetly at Arthur. 

“Arthur Kirkland, it’s nice to finally meet you,” the man began as he firmly gripped Arthur’s hand. 

“Likewise,” Arthur replied. 

“My name is Ludwig Beilschmidt. You work with my older brother, Gilbert,” Ludwig pointed out with a wide smile, “I used to work for MI5 as well.” 

“Ahh!” Arthur cried, remembering how Gilbert would speak of a little brother, and how proud of him that he was. He spoke so highly of Ludwig, people who didn’t know Gilbert would think that he was talking about a son of his. It explains everything; Ludwig would have gotten to Arthur through Gilbert. It answered all of Arthur’s questions. “So, that’s how you managed to get me here.” 

“Yes, we couldn’t have done it without Gilbert’s help,” Ludwig admitted as he gestured to Arthur to take a seat across from him, “Now, we are just awaiting your new partner, he is going to do all he can to make you comfortable during your stay here and help with the case. He was Matthew’s partner. I’m afraid he’s running late today.” 

“I see,” Arthur murmured as he watched Feliciano stand behind Ludwig, as though awaiting an order. 

“I’m sorry, he’s not usually like this,” Ludwig sighed, “Matthew’s kidnapping hit him really hard, so he is determined to get the man who did this. He’s really happy about you coming.”  
Arthur could understand the pain behind Ludwig’s eyes, he could see that the loss of this agent has hit everyone hard. Arthur could understand the pain of losing someone important.  
“However, when I last spoke to Gilbert, he ordered that while you are staying here, your mental health is going to be taken as a priority. And so he has ordered that you visit a therapist weekly.” 

“What?” Arthur hissed, crossing his arms over his chest in defiance. 

“It’s for your own good. MI5 is concerned about you, and we understand why,” Ludwig explained, “what happened to you is a tragedy, and we want to make sure that you recover from it.” 

Arthur huffed, wanting to protest it, but yet he could understand why his colleagues are concerned. He is showing signs of a worrying impact, he has spoken to Gilbert about the nightmares, disassociation and anxiety…  
But he never knew that Gilbert would take it so seriously. 

Suddenly the door opened and a new person entered the boardroom. Oceanic blue eyes stared at Arthur from behind rectangular frames, he was tall and well-built enough and had a youthful and handsome face that was enough to catch Arthur’s eyes and stop any of his thoughts where they were. When he saw Arthur he froze before running his hand through his sandy blonde hair as a quivering smile crossed his perfect lips, Arthur wondered why his heart was racing as he stood to greet the young man. 

It was Feliciano who begun the introduction, “Alfred F. Jones, please meet your new partner for the duration of Matthew’s search. This is—“

“Arthur Kirkland…” Alfred gasped as he shook Arthur’s hand, smiling as though he was internally holding himself back from jumping for joy. “I can’t believe you’re here, I’ve read up on all of your work, I…” He was interrupted by his own breath, “I am so happy you’re here to help, Matt would be ecstatic if he knew that YOU were working with us!” 

“Charmed,” Arthur quipped, happily shaking the Americans hand, feeling the powerful heat radiate through his soft skin. But Arthur couldn’t help but frown, “how did you know who I am?”

“Um…” Alfred stuttered, his tanned skin paling slightly, “Um… Well…”

“There is a newsletter that comes around once a month through our offices, and there are articles about inspiring agent throughout the world. You were on that newsletter once,” Ludwig explained. 

“Alfred’s been a fan of yours ever since,” Feliciano chuckled as Alfred’s face turned bright red, which could be seen despite the darkness of the boardroom. Feliciano laughed softly as he walked past Alfred and Arthur, leaving the boardroom. 

Despite their hands parting, Alfred’s hopeful smile and wide eyes did not change as he followed Arthur back to the table, taking the seat next to him. Ludwig opened his laptop and turned on the projector, revealing a picture of a young man with icy blue yes behind oval frames and his hair was a light blonde shade was looked incredibly soft and light, with the ends bracketing his youthful face. He stared at the camera with a formal glare as though he was posing for the official photo. “Now, this is Matthew Williams. He went missing from a warehouse in outer Washington DC while he was investigating the area with agent Jones.” 

“What was the mission?” Arthur asked. 

“He and Alfred were following an unconfirmed lead…” Ludwig grumbled, glaring at Alfred whom hung his head. 

“LUDWIG!!” Feliciano cried as he burst back into the boardroom, startling everything. In his hand the Italian held a small red memory stick. He looked as though he had just finished a run, and had a panicked look on his face, “This just came through today’s mail!! An unmarked envelope!! Ahh!!” 

Everyone watched intensely as Ludwig put the memory stick into his computer and opened the file. Alfred and Arthur watched everything as it happened on Ludwig’s laptop being projected onto the wall in front of the long table. The file opened to reveal one lone file, a video file.

“It’s a video…” Alfred gasped, daunting what was to come as Ludwig clicked on the icon to open the video.  
The screen was dark and shaky, as though the camera was being attached to the tripod, deep and hushed voices spoke in Russian quietly, until they went silent and the camera focussed onto a face. Deep violet and mad eyes stared into the camera, sending a shiver down Arthur’s spine.  
“It’s him…” Alfred whimpered as his head fell into his hands, his shoulders shaking as he tried to hold himself back from crying. 

The man stepped back as he glanced at someone behind the camera, he stepped back further to reveal his strong and tall frame. His hair was as pale as his skin, and contrasted against his dark clothing. However, it was obvious that the man was obstructing the view of something else. 

“When you receive this through the mail, we will have moved locations,” Ivan began; revealing a thick Russian accent as he casually placed his hands behind his back. “If Agent Jones was successful, you will know that it was me who took Agent Williams.  
Arthur looked to Alfred to see the Americans grimace, staring at the Russian on the screen as his hands supported his face. The happy young man that Arthur had just met was gone.  
“I know that you will be hunting us down like wolves, but you won’t find us. Heh… You all want to see me dead, especially after this…” Ivan stepped to the side to reveal a figure sitting in a seat; a small light hung above the figure and highlighted his blonde hair as he crouched forward. Ivan grabbed the figures hair and yanked him upwards, “don’t be shy! Show them you’re alive!!” 

The figure gasped in pain as everyone who watched recoiled in shock at the sight of his pained eyes and bleeding lip, Arthur could barely recognise him as Matthew, but he seemed worlds away from the sweet man in the photo Arthur was shown earlier.  
“I am not going to kill him, unless if you choose to cross me.” Ivan hissed, “Now, before you assume anything; it’s not your worthless money I want. I want you to squirm and panic. You all know what Agent Williams is capable of, and how I can use him.” Ivan explained as he ran his hand across Matthews chin, as though the young man was dear to him. “I want your political prisoners released and confidential files released! Otherwise Matthew and I will unleash hell on all of America!!”  
Ivan roughly let Matthew go, letting his head fall forward, however his hands and arms remained tied to the chair. Matthew’s head hung down as he breathed heavily, whilst Ivan walked around him, mumbling incoherently and shaking his hands violently, only worrying the viewers further. 

“DON’T DO A THING HE SAYS!!” Matthew burst, shaking within his restraints, “DON’T LISTEN TO HIM! HE’S GOING TO---“ 

Matthew was interrupted when Ivan swung his fist into the back of Matthew’s head, before turning around and punching him in the jaw. Matthew cried out and wheezed as Ivan kicked his chair over, sending Matthew to the floor. Ivan stepped over Ivan as someone in black ran at Ivan from behind the camera and held him back as panicked voices echoed through the room in Russian, as though they were scared of Ivan. Suddenly the camera shut off without another word. 

“My god…” Feliciano gasped, tears running down his face. 

“Ivan has gotten worse…” Ludwig sighed. “We need to find Matthew…”

“How did he get kidnapped in the first place?” Arthur asked, overwhelmed with shock. 

Alfred finally raised his head to look at Arthur, his eyes darkened with anger and pain, as though he was about to break into either a fit of violence, or a fit of tears.  
“When you use his best friend as hostage…”


	3. Hostage

It was easy to tell that Matthew was the quietest one of the pair, when Alfred would act on instinct he would watch and observe the situation to assess the best course of action. Despite the contrast between the two young men, they were the perfect match for each other. Alfred was the yang to Matthew’s yin, the Sherlock to Matthew’s Watson, the Kuzco to Matthew’s Pacha and the Scooby to Matthew’s Shaggy. 

They had met when they were first years in the police training academy, and instantly clicked. They have been inseparable for years. It seemed to be fate, because as soon as Matthew was offered a spot in the CIA, Alfred received one too. They were determined to become skilled and important agents, and do it together, with nothing coming between their friendship.   
They were so close; people who didn’t know them would assume that they were brothers. 

Matthew was always at work first, already on his laptop with earbuds in his ears by the time Alfred entered the office, carrying two caramel frappes from Starbucks. He smiled at Matthew as he placed the cup onto Matthew’s desk. 

“Thanks,” Matthew murmured as he pulled the earbuds out of his ears, looking at Alfred as the American stood there proudly, emptying his message-bag onto the desk beside Matthew’s. Alfred was still wearing his brown leather bomber jacket over his white shirt and black tie, he wore his usual black pants and black business shoes.   
“I still can’t believe you have that jacket? Didn’t you say you got it at seventeen?”

“Yeah!” Alfred replied, “And it’s still as good as ever.” 

“God, have you even washed it?” Matthew asked, pointing at the noticeable stains on the sleeves of the old jacket, and how tattered the brown fur collar of the jacket had become. 

“Ugh, who are you? My mom?” Alfred groaned, before he looked at Matthew and smiled as he slid the jacket off of his arms, revealing the fitted white shirt underneath. “Oh, speaking of mom’s, mine asked if you’d like to come and spend Christmas with us again this year.” 

Matthew’s face lit up with a bright smile, overjoyed by the fact that Alfred’s family had accepted them as an honorary member. Alfred was happy to provide Matthew with a family to spend Christmas with, besides, as far as Alfred knew: Matthew’s parents died in a car accident when he was eleven.   
“I’d love to, thank you!” 

“Great, I’ll let her know tonight,” Alfred chuckled. 

Matthew frowned when he noticed Alfred placing some papers on top of his closed laptop, “what are those?” 

“Oh, you’re gonna love this,” Alfred replied as he smiled mischievously and Matthew could only wonder what ambitious idea Alfred has come up with now. “You know how Braginski has been spotted in New York last month, and then in Philadelphia last week? I think he’s coming to Washington DC.” 

“That makes sense, I’ve heard the theories too,” Matthew explained. “Alfred, we were told to not focus on the Braginski case, Ludwig said to leave it.” 

“I know, but come on!” Alfred whined before reaching over Matthew’s desk to grab the Canadian by the shoulders. “I’ve been looking at motels outside of the city for any recent bookings that looked suspicious. Think about it Matt, this could be our big break! Ludwig will finally take us seriously and give us bigger cases!” 

“Alfred…” Matthew sighed, not liking the idea of taking such a bold move, but yet he knew that there was no way he could stop Alfred once he had attached himself to an idea. 

“At least hear what I’ve got…” Alfred muttered as he showed Matthew the first paper, “now, if I were a major criminal who was hell-bent on the destruction of the United States, I would want to hide somewhere off the grid, kind of. Nowhere that many people would want to look, at least no one who knows who he is.” 

“Oh my god, Alfred; how long have you been working on this?” Matthew sighed, “How many warrants did you have to get for this?” 

“Never mind that! Just listen!” Alfred hissed, watching to make sure that Ludwig or Feliciano weren’t walking within earshot, but neither of them had left Ludwig’s office. “So, I was looking through the logging lists of some small motels and hotels around the area outside of Washington DC, particularly rural ones.” 

“Oh god…” Matthew sighed, dreading what insane theory was going to come out of the American’s mouth. 

“Hey, don’t judge me!” Alfred whined as he ran his finger down the piece of paper, which Matthew finally realised was a printed out copy of the listing of the names of people who were staying in the hotel. Alfred stopped as he pointed out a name that was highlighted in pink, “Avian Sinkbrig.” 

Matthew looked at the name and frowned, seeing no connection between the name and Ivan Braginski at all, “… And?” 

Alfred slammed the paper onto the desk, and hissed into Matthew’s face, “It’s an anagram! For Ivan Braginski!” 

“Alfred…” Matthew muttered, unsure about how to feel about Alfred’s theory, sure; the anagram theory matches, however; there could be someone out there whose name is unfortunately an anagram of a master criminals. It’s not enough to warrant an investigation, how the hell did Alfred get warrants to obtain this listing?! “Cool theory, man, but I doubt it’s enough.” 

“BUT WAIT!!” Alfred announced as he slid another piece of paper off of his desk and shoving it in Matthew’s view. “THERE’S MORE!” 

“Huh?” Matthew muttered as he took the paper out of Alfred’s hand, seeing that it was a large printed out screenshot of fuzzy security footage.   
The camera itself was of low quality, probably cheap as the footage was blurry and in black and white. The picture was of a man writing in the logbook of the cheap hotel, as in the background Matthew could tell how old and dirty that the small lobby was. The man in the picture was talking to the man behind the desk, however the longer Matthew looked, the more he saw why Alfred had presented this, and Matthew thought differently towards Alfred’s theories.   
“NO.”

“YES!” 

“NO FUCKING WAY!” Matthew gasped in utter disbelief as he turned to his laptop, quickly making his way to the ‘Most Wanted’ listing, before clicking on the portrait of the ‘Number 3 of the most wanted in the United States: Ivan Braginski.’ “This can’t be real.”   
Matthew placed the picture next to the profile picture of Ivan Braginski, mentally comparing the two pictures. Same shape, same face, same nose, same eyes, same hair… 

“BOOM!” Alfred cried out happily, “Do you see it now, Matt?! Doesn’t it all work?!” 

“I can’t deny it…” Matthew muttered with his hand over his mouth as he put down the picture, his hand trembling as his eyes widened with shock and slight fear, like there was something about Braginski that deeply frightened him, “Ivan Braginski is in Washington DC… Why is he here…?”

“We can find out,” Alfred muttered as he leant into Matthew and placed his arm over the Canadians shoulder, with a diabolical glare in his bright eyes. 

“NO!” Matthew gasped as he rolled his chair away from Alfred, terrified by his suggestion, “are you insane?! We can’t do that alone! We have to tell Ludwig about this!!” 

“Then send him a damn email!” Alfred groaned, rolling his eyes, tired of the endless procedures.   
“And I’m not insane; I don’t want to have Braginski in handcuffs NOW. We should just visit the hotel and scope out the area for anything suspicious. Because if we give this to Ludwig now, he’ll only give it to someone else to take care of! It will go through at least a week of process and approvals before someone actually checks it out! The clerk will have forgotten who he was or Ivan would be long gone and blowing something up!! Come on dude, if we present everything we can to Ludwig, he will have no choice but assign us to the case exclusively! This could be what we need, and we’ll be back here before lunch!” 

“I don’t know…” Matthew sighed, however he knew that Alfred was going to do this with or without him, so at least Matthew could be there to help him: even if this lead produces nothing. That’s what a best friend would do. 

After collecting what they’d need, Matthew did end up sending Ludwig an email, advising that he and Alfred were going out of the office, leaving hardly any details for Ludwig to follow. Alfred drove them to the hotel, which ended up being very close to the city of Washington DC, but far enough to be very rural and run-down. It was decided that Matthew would interview the clerk and Alfred would look around the area outside, checking for anything suspicious. 

\--- 

Alfred always enjoyed the idea of scoping out areas; he enjoyed the thrill of suddenly turning a corner, even if he found nothing to show for his efforts.   
One thing that he found interesting was that the hotel was down the road from a wood chipping and paper making company, whose warehouses lined the street around the corner of the hotel… no wonder it was losing business, who would want to stay near a warehouse? 

The lack of security around the warehouses was startling, what sort of company would not invest in some form of security around the warehouses during closing hours? At least he could wonder around without needing to worry about other people. However, what unsettled Alfred the most was that he couldn’t shake off the feeling that he was being watched… 

A noise from behind made the American nearly jump out of his skin, and he instantly regretted his choice to come here alone, “Matt?!” Alfred cried as he made a sharp turn back, only to see the walls of the two warehouses he was walking in between. Alfred closed his eyes and sighed, “don’t be afraid, stay strong.” 

Alfred continued his journey, walking circles around one warehouse, before moving onto the next, all with minimal results, right when Alfred thought about turning around and returning to the hotel to meet Matthew early, he heard… talking? 

Alfred pressed his back against the concrete wall of the warehouse and focussed on the shadows that formed from the sunlight that shone on the other wall. He could see a shape… it was tall, but he couldn’t make out what it was… 

As he got closer, he could hear the voice more clearly, the person was speaking like they were on the phone, taking brief moments of pause before continuing to talk in a completely different language, but it sounded painfully familiar. Alfred frowned as he pondered over how rough the language sounded to him, it was quick paced with very mixed tenses and stresses, he immediately linked it to Russian, which was a complete guess. Alfred wasn’t fluent in any language other than English, however, he did speak some Spanish and he was proud of that… 

He pulled the gun from his holder, pondering over what action he should take in response to hearing this person talk. He was tempted to run, however the Agent called within him and begged for action. The call for action became too strong for the confident American to contain and he stepped out of the shadows with the gun in his hands. 

“CIA!” He snapped as he turned the corner and faced the source of the voices, however … he froze. “What the fuck?”   
He slumped his shoulders in disappointment at the sight of a fabric mannequin, with an old-fashioned tape recorder taped to its chest. “Why…?” 

However his disappointment was short lived as he felt someone grab him from behind. The shock forced him to drop his gun and grab the arm that hooked around his neck and squeezed tightly. Before Alfred could cry out, he felt his attacker press a cloth over his mouth and nose, forcing him to breathe in a strong but sweet smelling substance that made the American’s head beat in dizziness. Alfred jumped back and kicked outward, desperate to break out of his attackers grip, Alfred tried to elbow his attacker however, the more he breathed; the harder it became to move his arms. Alfred struggled to stay awake against the power of the chemicals he breathed in, and the struggle he had to breathe. However, Alfred managed to land one powerful blow with his elbow into his attacker’s chest, and was successful in forcing his attacker to release him.   
Alfred tried to run, however he fell to the ground after the first few steps as the blood rushed back to his head. He battled the creeping unconsciousness; Alfred crawled forward in a desperate attempt to get away, however Alfred only wheezed as the attacker simply stepped over him, before grabbing Alfred by the hair and forcing him to look up at him, before placing the chemical-dosed cloth over Alfred’s mouth and nose. 

Alfred’s eyes widened with horror and shock when he looked into the icy-eyes of his attacker, it was him… the man that Alfred had spent so much time dreaming about hunting. Ivan Braginski. Ivan smiled at Alfred when he realised that the American agent made the connection.   
No… No… Alfred thought as his entire body became numb, and he struggled to keep his eyes open, and he did not focus on imagining the horror that h was going to face. 

“Foolish child…” Ivan sighed, right before Alfred succumbed to the darkness with the last thing he saw being the Russians chilled and dark smile… 

\---- 

Alfred felt as though he was floating, the numbness had completely consumed his body and mind; he did not know how long he had been like this… he could be told that it was forever and believe it without a question. 

Despite this, Alfred’s eyes fluttered open and he was nearly blinded by a deep golden light and… and a voice. Alfred began to regain his consciousness quickly, and then he realised that he couldn’t move, he felt a cold and heavy force weigh down his entire body. Alfred opened his eyes completely and looked around, he was inside of one of the warehouses, and a man dressed in black with shoulder length brown hair stood near where Alfred stood with his back to him. 

He hadn’t had the time to properly analyse and process where he was before he started listening as best he could to the conversation that the man before him was having on the phone. 

“Yes, we are in warehouse number three. He is here and still asleep… Are you deaf? I told you that we are in warehouse number THREE. Did you get that? Yes… Yes… Yes, I know.” The man explained, keeping his back to the American, this man wasn’t Ivan. But that didn’t concern Alfred. If anything, he didn’t want to know where Ivan was. 

Alfred smiled, knowing that he had his location now, looking to the other side of where he laid, he saw that there was a small table that sat within an arm’s reach, and on that table sat his phone. Alfred could almost break free from the power of his joy, this was perfect, as soon as he can: he could text Matthew and get help! 

Alfred finally focussed on what was tying him down; he lifted his head to inspect his body, to see chains wrapped over his chest, stomach, waist and down his legs. However… what frightened Alfred the most, was that he was tied to a conveyer belt, and a very rusty looking saw sat at the end of the conveyer belt, at a distance of a couple of feet away from the base of his feet. 

“Building three. Alright, I will see you out the back. No, he’s still asleep and will be for a little while longer.” The man continued to talk as he walked away from where Alfred laid, not even looking back to check on him. 

As soon as the large entrance doors to the workshop closed, Alfred went to work, he struggled against the tightness of the chains, but eventually pulled out his arm out of the chains strong grip. Alfred reached for his phone and snatched it off of the table. As he expected, he had ten missed calls from Matthew, a couple from Ludwig and Feliciano, heck, even he mom had called him. Alfred unlocked his phone and quickly called Matthew, who answered before the second ring. 

“ALFRED!” Matthew snapped, “where the fuck are you?!” 

“There are warehouses down the corner from the hotel; I’m in warehouse number three!! Please, you need to hurry! Be careful, Ivan got me!” 

“IVAN!!” 

“He fucking chloroformed me! You’ve gotta come quick, while I’m alone!” Alfred explained, “Please, fucking hurry!” 

“God, Alfred, you fucking idiot! I’m calling for help and heading right over there,” Matthew explained, his voice strained and breathing heavily from his anxiety and running, desperate to find Alfred’s location. 

“Thank god… Please, be careful—“   
Suddenly someone came out from under the conveyer belt and snatched away Alfred’s phone, Alfred gasped in fear when the figure smiled down at him, and Alfred immediately recognised the man as his attacker from earlier: Ivan Braginski. 

“Wait just a minute, I still want to talk to you,” Ivan announced into the phone, “It is true that he is in warehouse number three. And if you don’t come alone and within five minutes: he will die. Do you hear me?” Ivan was quiet for a moment, before he held the phone closer to Alfred’s face as he suddenly slammed his elbow into Alfred’s stomach, making him scream in pain. “DO YOU HEAR ME?!” 

“Y-yes!” Alfred heard Matthew cry through the phone.   
Ivan hung up the phone, before throwing the phone away, where it smashed against a pile of cut planks of wood, a tell-tale sign of the woodcutting work that takes place in the workshop. 

“YOU MOTHER---“ Alfred hissed, but he was interrupted when Ivan grabbed the American’s free arm and began to stuff it back into the chains. Alfred tried to fight against the Russians grip. 

“We can’t have you grabbing at anything else~” Ivan chirped as Ivan’s strength overwhelmed Alfred’s, and forced his arm back into the chains, being sure to put it into a different place to where he originally broke free. As soon as Alfred was secure, Ivan leant against the conveyer belt, smiling down at Ivan with a happy and terrifying smile. “God, you are perfect…” 

“What?” Alfred asked. 

“You did everything right! You solved my anagram, you found the footage from the hotel and you found my tape-recorder! I have you to thank for this~” Ivan pointed out as he pulled out a large control pad out from under the conveyer belt, of which only had two buttons, a red one and a green one. This left Alfred with no questions about what it was for. “It’s a shame that I’d have to kill you if he says no.” 

“What do you want with Matt?!” Alfred hissed, attempting to fight against his tight chains.   
Ivan stared down at Alfred, with an amused and equally terrifying smile, “you have no idea who he really is? Do you?” 

Alfred froze, thinking about what Ivan had asked, what is there about Matthew that he doesn’t know? “What…?” 

The doors of the warehouse flew open and Matthew ran in with his handgun in his hands, ready to fight. 

“I’M HERE!” Matthew cried, his eyes and voice seething with anger. “WHAT DO YOU WANT, BRAGINSKI?!”

“Matthew!” Ivan chirped as he opened his arms, as though he was seeking a hug from the young and enraged agent. “You were a tiny little boy when I last saw you! You’re so big now! Look at you, you know how to use a gun now! You’ve grown up so fast!” The tone of Ivan’s voice confused Alfred, why is he talking to Matthew like he’s some kind of proud uncle!? Alfred glanced over at Matthew to see that his expression hadn’t changed, except his hands began to tremble.   
“You’ve done so much too! Mmm~ attacking the CIA with so much power, if you had called me, I would have happily helped you do it, and you wouldn’t of gotten caught! 

“That’s not who I am!” Matthew hissed. 

“True, I can make you so much MORE!” Ivan pointed out, before he pressed the green button on the control pad. “Whether you want to or not…” 

“HEY!!” Alfred gasped as he felt the conveyer belt grumble into action, before he felt the conveyer belt roll forward. However his heart truly sank when he saw the saw buzz to life and roll before him. “NO! NO! MATT!! MATT HELP—“ Alfred was silenced when Ivan removed his glove and shoved it into Alfred’s mouth. 

“What do you want with me?” Matthew asked, watching with horror as Alfred began to drift towards the raging saw, “I’ve changed; I’ve got nothing to offer you!” 

“LIAR! You’re still a criminal!” 

“REFORMED!! PLEASE, JUST STOP THIS! DON’T HURT HIM!!” 

“REFORMATION DOES NOT HINDER KNOWLEDGE!!” Ivan snapped, becoming more frantic, “you still know how to send out a virus that can bring the CIA to its knees and you can still build bombs! You are still the teenager who the CIA spent over half the year trying to hunt down!”   
Matthew snapped and lifted his gun towards the Russian, “I am doing nothing for you, let him go NOW!!” 

“Really?” Ivan asked as he placed his hand on Alfred’s chest, feeling him as the conveyer belt rolled, he was pointing out how close Alfred’s feet were to the saw. “Do you really want to play games with me? You know who I am… I will have you no matter what, it’s your choice whether your friend lives, or dies.” 

All Matthew could do was hear Alfred’s terrified muffled screams as the soles of his shoes came dangerously close to the saw. Matthew was beginning to panic himself, and this was only worsened when Ivan pulled his leather glove out of the Americans mouth, allowing him to scream out loud. Alfred screamed, cried and fidgeted in his chains to try to move his feet, as he could almost feel the blade run against the sole of his shoe.   
Alfred had never cried or screamed like this before, he looked like the complete opposite of a hero, and it became too much for Matthew to handle. 

“JUST STOP IT!!” Matthew screamed as he turned and threw his gun away, before collapsing to his knees and crying in his hands, “I’LL DO WHAT YOU WANT, JUST PLEASE STOP!! DON’T HURT HIM!!” 

Ivan pressed the red button, ending the terror of the saw. Despite this, Alfred kept screaming as though he could still hear the saw buzzing through his ears. 

Ivan walked around the conveyer belt as Matthew continued to cry in his hands, loathing the situation. Ivan supportively placed his hand on Matthew’s shoulder, encouraging the depressed Canadian to stand. “Come. We have a lot of catching up to do.” 

“But… Alfred…” Matthew whimpered, using his sleeve to wipe his tears, no longer seeing the use in fighting the Russian. 

Ivan looked back at Alfred, before revealing a dark smile that sent shivers down Alfred’s spine, “workers should return to the warehouse at six am tomorrow, do you think you can wait that long, hm?” 

Ivan didn’t wait for a response, but instead removed his long tanned coat before placing it over Matthew’s trembling shoulders, before encouraging the Canadian to walk next to him by placing his arm over Matthew’s shoulders. Ivan turned off the light as he exited the warehouse, leaving Alfred alone in the darkness to contemplate all that he thought he knew about his best friend.


	4. Chapter 4

Arthur’s couldn’t find the right words to comfort the crumbling American who sat next to him, his head in his hands and his teeth exposed as he breathed heavily and angrily, like he was about to explode. Arthur could only imagine what kind of man Alfred was like before Matthew’s kidnapping, cute, bubbly, and full of life and curiosity… And now he had become cold, cynical and distanced.   
Arthur could somewhat relate to that. 

“He used my stupidity and naivety against me, and Matt’s in danger because of me,” Alfred muttered, “It’s my fault that he’s getting hurt now.” 

“Alfred… Braginski was determined to get into Matthew: it seems like he was going to do anything it took. You happened to be closers to Matthew: and that’s not your fault…” Feliciano pointed out of he placed his hands on Alfred’s shoulders, showing the American whatever support he could. Arthur couldn’t help but notice the way that the Italian looked down at Alfred, he looked just as upset and was even crying, but he was there for Alfred. Arthur didn’t know that American offices were as close as family. 

It reminded him of how Allistor used to be there for him, if he was stuck on a case; Allistor would stay in the office with him all night and try to help him solve it. Arthur wouldn’t be the agent he was today without Allistor by his side. Hell, Arthur knew that he would have given up years ago, no… he wouldn’t have gone for the job in the first place. 

“Don’t worry, Alfred. We’re going to find him.” 

Arthur was still looking at Alfred when the American turned his head to look at him, revealing to him the vulnerable state that he was in. The whites of his eyes were outlined with red, indicating the incoming of tears and his cheeks were flushed with an even brighter red. Arthur didn’t turn away from him, he couldn’t bring himself to do it, and that’s when Arthur realised just how important this case was to these people, and that he was their last hope. 

Ludwig sighed as he rubbed his forehead with his fingers, obviously trying his best to remain professional, and not let the pain of seeing a friend of his in pain, “then let’s get started.”   
Ludwig started by rewinding the video, starting by rewinding the video by using his laptop. He paused at the shot of Ivan standing beside Matthew, leaning into the Canadian and holding his head up to look at the camera, displaying the agent like how a hunter would display their latest kill. Matthew was in a position where he was leaning forward, his mouth hanging open and his eyes wide with terror. “It’s obvious that this place is abandoned and damp; judging by the mould and soil on the ground and walls.” 

Arthur stood up and walked towards the image that was projected against the large white screen, pointing to the lightbulb, pointing out how it shone against the floor and walls. “Judging by the size of the lightbulb … Incandescent, I believe. And how the lights shine is reaching the wall as well, this room has to be very small in width, suggesting that this would perhaps be a storage room of some sorts.” 

“Ludwig,” Alfred grimaced, “Play it again.” 

“Are you sure that you want to be here for that?” Ludwig asked. 

“I’m an adult, I can manage,” Alfred grunted, “Besides, we should listen for any noises that give away where they are.” 

“He’s right; I think I heard something as Ivan was talking,” Arthur agreed, watching Alfred straighten his back and tense his face from the corner of his eye. 

“Don’t be shy! Show them you’re alive!”   
Instead of focussing on what Ivan was saying, everyone was listening beyond the Russian’s voice and to what was going on in the background.   
A deep grumbling noise lightly rumbled through the room. 

“The lightbulb shakes,” Arthur pointed out, reaching up and pointing towards the lightbulb, as it shook slightly above the captor and his hostage. “Even the camera loses a little focus here.” 

“We were too distracted by Ivan to notice the first time,” Ludwig agreed. 

“It kinda sounds like a train…” Alfred murmured, leaning forward as he squinted.   
Ludwig and Arthur’s eyebrows rose at the conclusion, silently listening to the grumble behind the Russian’s voice.   
Until everyone jumped with fright when their train of thought was cut off by Matthew’s cries, “DON’T DO A THING HE SAYS!! DON’T LISTEN TO HIM!! HE’S GOING TO---“ Arthur spotted Alfred turn his head away in time to avoid seeing Matthew be hit in the head, the noise alone making the American tremble. 

“It does sound like a train; maybe they’re near a train station…” Ludwig pointed out. 

Arthur thought for a moment, thinking about the facts of the situation… Ivan would need to put Matthew somewhere where no one would think to look… judging by the dampness and mess of the room, it’s got to be abandoned. The more that Arthur thought about it, the more ideas popped into his head. He could be in an abandoned building, but there’s so many of those: besides, the CIA would have searched hundreds of them by now, and the Russian is smarter than that.

To solve this case, Arthur would need to get into the mind of the Russian, know what drives him and what created him. Was he born evil, or was he raised into it? 

Arthur frowned as he curled his finger underneath his chin, he turned to look at Ludwig and Alfred, “What if he’s in a train station?” After seeing Alfred and Ludwig frown at his question, Arthur explained, “This does not sound like the noise of the train is travelling across the street, this sounds underground, which would explain the lack of natural light, as well as the decay of the room itself. I think they’re in the subway. Perhaps in a room that’s hidden from the public, maybe in a hidden maintenance shed. Do they have those over here?” 

Ludwig looked to Feliciano, who still stood behind Alfred; watching over him like a guardian angel. “Find that out.” 

And in a flash, Feliciano was leaving the board room to follow Ludwig’s order. 

“If he’s in the subway, we can get a warrant to check the footage of every station that has hidden rooms along to their tracks,” Ludwig explained before his icy eyes glanced towards Arthur. “Let’s see if your legendary hunches are true.” 

“I won’t disappoint, sir,” Arthur quipped. 

“Although, we will need to work fast, Ivan points out at the start of his video that they will be gone by the time we received the video,” Ludwig explained. 

“Well, we should still find it, even if the video was filmed the day after he was taken, they could have left something behind,” Arthur pointed out. 

“It’s Matt. He’d know what was going on and he’d leave a clue. He knows that we’re coming for him,” Alfred exclaimed, his voice deepening with authority, like he knew that he was the expert when it came to Matthew. “He wouldn’t leave that place without leaving some kind of clue, I know it.” 

“I’ll take Alfred’s word for it then,” Arthur explained as he crossed his arms over his chest, “I also need to know everything I possibly can about the man who kidnapped him. I need to know his history, diagnosis; if any, family history and previous convictions. I need to see if I can try to predict what he’d do next.” 

“Feliciano is right outside,” Ludwig replied, “He will show you the file we have on Braginski.” 

“Right!” Arthur muttered enthusiastically as he marched past the long table, knowing that Alfred and Ludwig were watching him as he left. As soon as he passed through the door he squinted from the power of the newfound light around him, however he quickly saw Feliciano standing by a desk near the door. 

Noticing the Englishman, Feliciano smiled kindly, “how can I help you, Arthur?” 

“I need to see Ivan Braginski’s file, Ludwig said that you were the one to speak to,” Arthur explained. 

“Of course,” Feliciano nodded before getting off of the computer. 

“Have you had any luck in finding out about the railway?” Arthur asked. 

Feliciano chuckled as he scratched his head, “I was just about to call them and ask that. Anyways, I believe it was Alfred who was reading through Braginski’s file last… And his desk is a floor down…” 

“It seems that Alfred and Matthew were close…” Arthur pointed out as Feliciano led him towards an elevator. 

“Yes… They are…” Feliciano sighed after he pressed the button to command the elevator, “It’s so sad, Alfred must be feeling terrible…” 

“You mentioned that Matthew began in the reformation program, what was it exactly that got him there?” Arthur asked, “Did Alfred know all of this?” 

“Matthew coordinated an elaborate and devastating attack on CIA network systems; it had the entire CIA at a standstill for months. He had a whole other life before he came here. And no, Alfred didn’t know a thing…” Feliciano sighed again as the elevator doors opened, to reveal the empty and small elevator space. “And Alfred still doesn’t know much about who Matthew was before the CIA… Ludwig and I don’t know how to tell him…” 

“I see… There is much more to this Agent than meets the eye… I’m assuming that Ivan knew about his past…” Arthur assumed as the elevator doors slid to a close, shutting Arthur and Feliciano out from the rest of the world. 

“It is believed that Ivan and Matthew had met before. Ivan knew his family,” Feliciano pointed out. “But… Alfred said that he called Matthew by that name…” 

“Matthew Williams isn’t his real name?” 

“It was changed for his protection,” Feliciano confirmed, “although, it’s not far from the original, so I suppose it wouldn’t have taken someone like Ivan long to figure it out…”   
Feliciano’s eyes narrowed as his shoulders tensed, his head tilted slightly so he was looking directly at the polished white floor of the elevator. 

“I see that you’re all taking this case very personally…” 

“We can’t help it. It was Ludwig and I who brought him here; we should have done more to protect him…” Feliciano muttered, the Italian took in a deep breath as he lifted his head, putting on a brave face, “the best we can do now is find him and then never allow this to happen again…” 

The elevator doors opened again to reveal a smaller space that was filled with cubicles and desks, “this is the level that the four of us will be working on, and it has everything we need in relation to Ivan and his most recent kidnapping. Because you are a guest, you will get your own private office, right next to Ludwig’s; you are welcome to settle in. Now, Alfred’s desk is over here…”   
Feliciano led Arthur to the messiest desk of them all, with a closed laptop and papers all over the place. The walls of his cubicle were covered in photos, from dogs, to pictures of Alfred and his family, even a few with Matthew himself in them. 

Arthur paused for a moment to look at the photos, particularly one of Alfred and Matthew, smiling into the camera like there wasn’t a worry in the world. Judging by the angle, it was a selfie in front of a body of water, and they’re dressed rather casual, perhaps they’re on a boat or a cruise somewhere… This only showed Arthur how close the two agents were, and Arthur couldn’t help but smile slightly. Realising it was the first time he had smiled in a while, Arthur froze, before slowly welcoming the change… perhaps this was a good thing… 

Feliciano caught Arthur’s attention by producing a large looking pile of papers, being held together by a paper sling. “Here is the main file; I’ll have to look around for any scraps that Alfred may have been using. He will join you in your office later.”   
Arthur frowned as he took the folder, nearly dropping it from the weight of the papers. “As you can guess, your office is the one with the Union Jack on it.”   
“Can’t miss it then, eh?” Arthur asked as his eyes scanned around the room, looking for the Union Jack that Feliciano was talking about, until he realised that it was right behind him. “Ah… cute.” 

“If you need anything at all, don’t hesitate to ask!” Feliciano chirped, “Would you like something to eat, some tea?”

Arthur thought before making his way to the room with the flag of his homeland on the door, “Earl Grey would be great, thank you.” 

Arthurs office was small, however, the placement of the furniture and the wide window made the space seem spacious. A large wooden desk sat by the window, with a computer with a large screen and many drawers. In front of the desk sat two small black leather couches that sat opposite to each other with a glass coffee table in the middle. 

With his earl grey in hand, Arthur sat on one of the couches and placed the heavy file onto the glass table, ready to pull it apart and explore its contents.   
Arthur looked at the index file, seeing that the file contained reports spanning over subjects like his early home life, schooling, early crimes, Russian crimes, Polish crimes, French crimes, Canadian crimes, American crimes, as well as psychology reports. 

Arthur was going to have a hard time building a profile. And an even harder time trying to predict what he was going to do next. 

“Hey…” A new voice announced as Arthur pulled the file apart. Arthur looked up to see Alfred poking his head in through the door, smiling at Arthur. “Can I help?”   
Arthur usually worked alone, especially when it involved heavy reading. 

However, before Arthur could explain this, Alfred was already making his way to the couch opposite of Arthur, wearing that charming smile. He acted as though the emotional man that Arthur saw in the board room was gone. 

In the light Arthur could see him better; he could see the bright blonde highlights in his golden hair, the brightness of the blue in his round doll-eyes. Alfred stood over six feet tall, Arthur knew that if he stood now; the American would tower over him and Arthur could see the fit body the young man hid under the suit. Alfred was attractive and Arthur couldn't deny that he began to feel joy when looking at him in the light.   
However, he knew that Alfred wouldn’t be much of a distraction for Arthur, as long as he didn’t talk much was Arthur was reading. 

“I’m really thankful that you’re here,” Alfred pointed out, “I really mean it, Matt would be so happy to know that you’re here.” 

“Heh… cute, I see that you and Agent Williams were close,” Arthur pointed out as he pulled the file apart and spread the combined groups of paper across the table, creating a timeline of files. 

“Extremely, he is like a brother to me,” Alfred agreed leaning forward as he looked over the coffee table, seeing what Arthur was preparing. “I could tell him anything. Heh… I even told him about you.” 

“Excuse me?”

“I mean! The newsletter! I always look at the section about the agents around the world!!” Alfred explained, trying his best to recover from his embarrassing move. “I really liked yours! I’d love to help you out as best I can in this case now!” 

“Well… I suppose that you can help…” Arthur murmured, trying to not give in to the Americans crippling flattery, he sounded like a child who was meeting a superhero.   
Arthur turned some of the files in Alfred’s direction, letting the American look through them. 

“You and I are going to build a timeline of Ivan Braginski’s life, figure out why he is doing this, what he has done and hopefully predict what he is going to do next.” Arthur explained, “I’m sure that you’ve already seen a lot of this file.” 

“Yeah, I’ve been trying to do the same thing as you… But I’m not so good at profiling; I’m more of a field investigator…” Alfred admitted. 

“That’s ok, I just need you to tell me everything that you see,” Arthur explained, “Right, then let’s get this started; we may be here all night.” 

Alfred nodded readily picking up some of the papers.   
“Also, there are a lot of documents here that a written in Russian, on the back of them you should find an English translation,” Alfred pointed out. “Heh… it took me a while to figure that out.” 

“Thanks…” Arthur murmured, feeling the American's small smile and wide eyes follow him as he picked up the first piece of paper and began what was going to be a long and daunting study session on the life of a madman.


	5. Chapter 5

As Arthur read more papers in that formed the pile between him and Alfred, he could begin to understand what kind of world Ivan grew up in, and solved the mystery as to why he became who he was.   
In the St Petersburg; Ivan was born to a family consisting of a drunken, former solider father and an emotionally distant mother, despite this, the family was wealthy and despite how coldly the parents treated their children: Ivan had two sisters.   
According to the documents that Arthur held in his hand, his sisters have no criminal records, and testify that they haven’t spoken to their brother in nearly a decade, they wanted nothing to do with him, and Arthur couldn’t blame them. 

In school Ivan excelled, specialising in mathematics and chemistry, it seemed that he had always been a genius. However, while he was honoured by his teachers, his parents saw him as nothing more than a money-wasting nuisance. Arthur could only theorise at this point, but he assumed that because of the turmoil of his home-life, Ivan turned to crime as a way to take back some of the control that he lost, as Ivan committed minor crimes; robbery, assault and harassment.

The police reports stated that the situation was being monitored by police and child protection officers, indicating the kind of situation that Ivan grew up in, and points to the source of the man he became. , Ivan committed minor crimes; robbery, assault and harassment. 

That somewhat explained why Ivan was extremely antisocial… According to the testimonies of his older sister, Ivan rarely spoke, but when he did: it was an argument with his father. She explained that ‘as Ivan became taller, he became angrier’. Violence within the family home became a regular occurrence, usually with Ivan being the perpetrator, the initiator or the victim.   
Ivan moved out of that home at sixteen, finding work in any place he could find it. He has work records that detail delivering newspapers to housekeeping. It was obvious that he tried to lead a legitimate life: he attended therapist appointments and stayed on the right side of the law for a couple of years, he live in a small apartment and mostly kept to himself, there are no records for this part of his life, not even the therapist had any notes remaining for Arthur to read.

However, this seemed to change during the Christmas after he turned twenty-three, he was arrested for the attempted murder of his father.   
Arthur couldn’t understand; after doing so well for so long, what made Ivan snap?! According to the police record, a fight started when his father undermined him and refused to accept responsibility for anything that happened during Ivan’s childhood, and then threatened Ivan. At that point it had become too much and Ivan reverted to his old ways and physically attacked.   
Ivan had to serve time in prison for his outburst, and this is where Arthur believes that Ivan’s life took a turn for the worst.   
Arthur read through reports from the prison guards and other prison staff. They explained that Ivan suffered from physical as well as sexual abuse, all before he met a man who happened to be a part of the Tambov Gang and quickly depended on him for protection. 

When he left, he wasn’t the same man: he suffered from more abuse than he had in his entire life, and now found strength and protection within a gang.   
Arthur frowned, realising that this is where Ivan had become a true criminal, this was the beginning of the domino effect that led to where they were today.  
With the Tambov Gang, Ivan was exposed to the world of money laundering, drugs, murder and kidnapping. It appears that this is where Ivan developed all of his skills.   
This decade that he spent with the gang had him committing murders in France, kidnapping in Poland and Russia, he even lived in Canada for a couple of years in order to perform a laundering scam. Ivan had become incredibly respected within the group, earning his place amongst the Russian criminals. 

Allegedly he was the mastermind behind hundreds of kidnappings and murders that spanned all over Russia and Eastern Europe. He was the gang’s weapon, and they used him as much as they could.   
However, according to a police report from Canada, some people who Ivan worked with had turned against him and attempted to kill him. The report states that they were stabbed hundreds of times by the Russian, blinded by rage. Perhaps it was this incident that awakened Ivan’s paranoia; his own gang had turned against him, after he had done so much for them… They tried to kill him… 

Ivan had managed to avoid police capture by staying with another criminal in Canada, perhaps this is where Ivan met Matthew’s family, and how he met the young Canadian who became his prisoner.   
Since then, Ivan has been working alone, building a gang of his own, and notoriety within Russia and Eastern Europe. Perhaps he wanted to send his former gang members a message; he wanted them to know that he was back; and to fear him.   
Arthur doubted that this plan worked… there was no way that Ivan would have made a notorious gang afraid, perhaps Ivan was truly delusional.   
More police reports detailed murders of gang members, as well as more kidnappings and assaults. This all told Arthur that Ivan was growing as a criminal and as a leader; he had people who followed him now. 

However, sometimes things didn’t go according to plan. Pictures of the bodies of Ivan’s dead companions shook Arthur to the core; the police assumed that Ivan believed the poor victim had aroused Ivan’s suspicions. 

Within a couple of years, Ivan had earned himself the reputation of a paranoid mad-man and had the whole of Russia gripped in fear and anticipation. Perhaps that was Ivan’s plan, become an object of fear to the whole of society, rather than to just those who betrayed him. 

It was Ivan’s paranoia that drove him forward, he was determined to get back at those who betrayed him, first it was the gang, and now his sights were set on the entire world.   
Arthur could sense that Ivan had experienced a lot of pain from an early age, and everything that had happened to him formed him into the psychopath that he is today. Arthur could see that Ivan had determination, and he wasn’t going to stop on his own: he needed to be brought to justice before anyone else gets hurt.

\---- 

Arthur frowned, feeling his head ache as it lay against a hard surface, all of his warmth gathering in the one place where his head laid. He murmured something as he scrunched his hand into a fist, his knuckles cracking from the movement. Arthur opened his eyes to see the flat surface of the table extend out like a horizon, squinting from the bright light reflecting off of the white paper that served as Arthur’s pillow. 

His head was pounding from the lack of sleep and the stress, he could tell now that it was beginning to take a toll on his body; he had fallen asleep during work: something that he had never done in the entirety of his career. He never thought he’d be capable of dozing off while reading something. His first week in America had been more intense than he first anticipated, he was kept back at the CIA headquarters either reading or piecing together a lead… but it all lead to nothing, and so he stayed longer than usual, and got less sleep. 

Arthur lifted his head, feeling his back ache in pain, having stayed in an uncomfortable position for such a long period of time. He sat up, his back straightening with a chorus of cracks, his face tightening from the sensation. Arthur looked down at the coffee table, seeing the papers and their notes that littered all over the glass surface, and also Alfred, whose sleeping body covered the other half of the table, right next to where Arthur could have been sleeping. Looking up at the clock on the wall, Arthur could see that it was nearly three o’clock, and judging by the darkness outside, Arthur concluded that it wasn’t three in the afternoon. 

“Alfred…” Arthur murmured.   
Alfred grumbled something, as his hand tightened into a fist, signalling that the American was beginning to wake up from his slumber.   
“Alfred… wake up.” 

“Fuck…” Alfred grumbled, glancing up at Arthur, his rectangular and thick black glasses sitting unevenly on his face, however, his tired eyes lit up once he saw Arthur, despite how tired and depressed the Brit looked. “Hey…” 

“It’s really late; I’m sure you want to go home, I’m sorry to keep you here for so long,” Arthur pointed out as Alfred sat up, yawning. 

“It’s ok,” Alfred yawned stretching as he stood up from his seat across from Arthur, still recovering from his awakening. 

“But, it’s three am,” Arthur pointed out, rising as he picked up his suit jacket, putting it on over his white shirt and tie. “I shouldn’t have kept you here for so long, I’m sorry.” 

“No, no,” Alfred yawned, grabbing his messenger bag before the agents left Arthur’s office, walking out into the empty, but well-lit office area. Despite his tired eyes and lazy posture, Alfred smiled at Arthur, those round oceanic eyes beaming with hope, “You’re helping to find Matt, and so I’ll stay as long as I need to. Heh, we may just need to pick up some coffee in the morning. How about I pick you up a little earlier and we can grab something before work.”

Arthur smiled as he and Alfred stepped into the elevator, the doors closing as they stood next to each other, “I’d like that a lot.”


	6. Chapter 6

“Arthur, do you understand why you were told to come and speak to me?” The blonde doctor asked, adjusting himself in his comfy looking black leather chair. Arthur’s eyes wandered around the office, noting the symmetrical and comfortable décor, the black, white and red colour scheme, and even the dark fire place in the centre of the room, which doubled as a bookcase. Arthur sat on a long leather couch across from the doctor, sicking further into the warm leather the longer he sat in silence.   
He knew why he was here, he just saw it as an inconvenience; he should be back at the CIA office; looking through security footage with Alfred, or doing other things in order to obtain a warrant to look through the subways underground rooms. However, Arthur could not deny Gilbert and Ludwig’s concerns… What happened to him has left him visibly and mentally scarred, he was prepared to deal with that by himself. 

“Well…” Arthur murmured, his eyes drifting to the dark wooden desk, seeing the name plate that read ‘Dr B. Oxenstierna’. Arthur looked back to the Swedish doctor, trying to not look too distracted. The taller man’s piercing blue eyes were already looking straight through his soul from behind his narrow rectangular glasses. Arthur crossed his legs as well as his arms over his chest, “Sir, I understand why I’ve been told to attend these appointments, I just feel like I’ll be fine handling it alone.” 

“Please call me Berwald. Today’s session is going to be us getting to know each other.” Berwald pointed out, “Do you usually handle everything alone?” He asked, one blonde eyebrow raising, readying his pen and notepad. 

“People say I’m stubborn—I’m well aware of that,” Arthur answered, crossing his legs as he leant back against the pillows of the leather couch. “I… Don’t usually enjoy asking for help, I’m used to being the one that others came to.” 

“Was this the same with your brother? If you don’t mind me asking,” Berwald asked, frowning. 

Arthur thought for a moment before replying, “No… We were equals…” Arthur started to feel himself sinking into his chair as the thought more about how he acted around Allistor, it was true that they were equals, he was the only person that Arthur could confidently ask for help to, and Arthur felt that it was the same with him. They worked better together. “I really felt comfortable talking to him about everything. If I needed a second opinion; I went to him, if I couldn’t figure something out on my own; I went to him.” 

“You relied on him a lot? Did you feel this way with anybody else?” Berwald asked. 

“Not really, I do have friends in and out of work, but none of them have stuck around as long as him. Our parents had always had issues with each other, so Allistor and I had always decided to just ‘fuck them’ and stuck together…” 

“So, I take it that you and Allistor have been close for you entire life? What was your relationship like with your parents?” 

“Yes. We only had each other growing up. Allistor’s mother had already left, and by the time I was born, there was already tension within the family.” Arthur bit his bottom lip, feeling slight nausea throughout his body as he recalled these ancient memories. “When I was six, my mother had enough and left our father as well. Our father was out a lot after that, either at work or catching up with old friends, so Allistor and I had to rely on each other for a lot of things...”   
At this confession, Arthur began to crumble. He hadn’t been prepared to admit such things to the doctor; let alone anyone. Arthur could feel the wall he had built around himself ever since the incident is beginning to crumble, and he didn’t like it.   
Arthur shut himself up before he said anything else. 

Berwald noted Arthur’s abrupt silence, “You’re not used to talking about these things, are you?”   
Instead of replying, Arthur simply sighed, before nodding his head. 

“Your relationship with your brother is really heart-warming. It’s going to take a lot of time for you to learn how to handle the grief you are suffering from, and there are concerns about whether you are suffering from a worse affliction because of the incident back in London. Have you been having nightmares?” 

“Nearly constantly.” Arthur stuttered quickly. 

“Are they a reoccurring nightmare, or are they all different?” Berwald asked. 

“I…” Arthur murmured. He suddenly felt very hot, and his collar felt way too tight for his neck, he wondered whether he was beginning to sweat…   
However, he had to pull himself out of this stage of anxiety and focus on the source: his nightmares. He has had to admit that recently they’ve become worse. 

He remembered being chased by figures draped in darkness; he was hopeless and scared with nowhere to go for safety. They would eventually catch him and pin him down on the ground, where he’d watch their claws rip him open and his insides would spill out like couch-stuffing…   
Of course there were nightmares that were replicas of what happened on that terrible day in London… where he would watch Allistor die over and over again, and do absolutely nothing to stop it. He would be executed like a criminal again and again and again… It was the nightmare that refused to let him forget every vivid and detail of that day, it didn’t want to let him go: it wanted him dead.   
But then… he could never forget the reoccurring nightmare that trumped all of them. Arthur’s vision became blurry with tears as the horrid memories began to creep and claw their way back inside of his mind, instantly he wiped away his forming tears and took a deep breath, telling himself that he has to be strong.

“We don’t have to speak about it now if you don’t want to,” Berwald pointed out, leaning forward in concern, seeing that Arthur had become visibly shaken and anxious. “These things are going to take time, please don’t push yourself.” 

“I’m sorry…” Arthur sighed. 

“Perhaps we should focus on other things for now, and come back to the nightmares later,” Berwald proposed. 

“I appreciate that,” Arthur agreed. “I never thought I’d talk about it.”

“Well, a lot of people say that talking about things makes them feel better, sometimes it even makes people realise things that they hadn’t before.” Berwald suggested, “Is there anyone at work that you get along well with? Anyone you feel like you want to talk to?” 

Instantly Arthur pictured Alfred… It was true that he and the American spend hours together at work, and far Alfred has been a fantastic companion, although he does talk a lot. However Arthur has grown to enjoy his company, he’d be stupid to deny that the American made him feel a little bit of happiness.   
He would be in the lobby of the hotel every morning with that same bright smile on his face, eager to greet Arthur like he would a friend, immediately asking if he wanted to get coffee or anything. He would chat to him while driving to work, even at seven in the morning, the lad was still smiling like a schoolboy… 

Then Arthur also thought of Feliciano and had to admit that he had grown somewhat attached to the young man. Despite the situation, he kept everyone’s morals in top-shape, he was the sun of the CIA and everyone seemed to agree with that statement. 

“There are.” 

“Anyone in particular? Perhaps there’s someone who can help you with your particular problems.”

Arthur’s mind instantly returned to Alfred, realising that he has seen the young lad go through some dark moments, perhaps he suffered from them as frequently as Arthur… Arthur has caught him staring blankly, the life having suddenly left his bright blue eyes… His head would hang as though he was in shame, and he would not speak so loudly and would only when spoken too.   
Perhaps more was going through his head than Arthur first thought. 

“Yes. His name is Alfred, he’s another Agent, he’s my partner while I’m here,” Arthur explained.

“Alright,” Berwald explained, his eyes narrowing as a knowing smile crossed his lips, “Then perhaps try letting Alfred in a little bit, talk to him more about what you’re feeling and what’s going on—Only if you’re comfortable with it, of course. “ 

“I suppose…” Arthur murmured. 

“I’m just worried that you spend too many nights alone. Do you do anything once work is over, other than just going into your apartment?” Berwald asked. 

“I just get dropped off and then I stay there,” Arthur explained. 

“I would be worried that the isolation may get to you.” 

“I’m used to it, trust me.” 

Berwald frowned, “I can tell. But, you don’t have to do this if you want to, but try giving other people a chance, you never know, you could make a really good friend here.”   
Arthur huffed, unsure about the idea of opening up, however, he slowly warmed up to the idea of building more of a social-life… He had suffered enough loneliness in the months after Allistor died. He spent days wandering around his home, moping and depressed like a hermit, he would forget to shower and would forget to make dinner.   
He would have fallen off the edge of the earth if it wasn’t for his cat keeping him sane. 

“I see how that would help,” Arthur admitted, “I’ll give the lad a go.” 

“Thank you, I’m just worried about how much time you have spent alone. Isolation can do things to someone after long periods of time.” Berwald explained, “Now, tell me about your work load, are you handling everything well?” 

“The work load is fine, it’s nothing too difficult, right now it’s focussing on surveillance footage and trying to get a warrant, although when I first started there were some difficult briefings and profiling that I had to do,” Arthur explained. 

“How long do you usually spend at work?” 

“I always arrive there with Alfred at eight o’clock in the morning… And sometimes I leave at seven or eight; however there have been nights where I’ve left in the early hours of the next morning.” 

“Right… so I’m assuming your sleep patterns are off?” 

“Right, you are,” Arthur sighed, nodding his head slowly, “But I can deal with that, I’ve been a crook sleeper my entire working-life.” 

“Perhaps try making a pattern with your sleeping, a good sleep can really impact how you can feel during the day,” Berwald explained. “Maybe we can try to reset your body-clock, do you smoke?” 

“Used to.” 

“Any alcohol or drug-use?” 

“I drink regularly.” 

“Hobbies?”

“I used to draw, but now I don’t have the time anymore.” 

“Are you in a relationship?”

“I had a boyfriend a couple of years ago.” 

“Boyfriend?” 

Arthur froze, realising what he’s just revealed to the doctor, such personal information that he hardly told anyone; Arthur narrowed his eyes, wondering how the doctor would react. “Oh… What of it?”

“No, no, it’s fine, judgment is not allowed here; thank you for being honest with me,” Berwald admitted. “Are there still feelings of resentment between the two of you?”

“No, no, it’s was mutual,” Arthur admitted. 

“Do you have any issues with your sexuality; have there been any problems with it?” 

“Allistor was accepting of it and well… I haven’t really told anyone else—not that it’s not accepted, but I just haven’t really gotten close enough to anyone to tell them… It’s never come up before.” 

“Ok, well, thank you for being honest with me. You seem to be very well managed with all that is going on around you, despite what happened. However, I recommend you watch over those nightmares of yours, have you considered journaling your feelings?” 

“Never have.” 

“Well, a lot of patients of mine tell me that it helps. Another thing we need to do is to get you some more social support, even if it is just asking someone for dinner after work, or getting lunch with someone.” Berwald explained, “I’m just worried about how much time you spend alone and with your thoughts. That’s never a good thing for someone who’s been through what you have.” 

“Right…” Arthur murmured, wondering what he could do differently, and accepting of his therapists’ homework. He had to journal his feelings, and reach out to other people. 

As Arthur walked out of the doctor’s office with a numb feeling all over his body, he had never seen a doctor for mental health relations before. His anxiety was through the roof, he felt as though a layer of his cold exterior had been pulled off of him and he was left exposed to the elements. However, he couldn’t deny that it took a lot of weight off of his shoulders. He stepped back out into the waiting room to see Feliciano waiting for him, with that same smile on his face that Arthur had imagined earlier. Despite his elevated mood, Arthur did not expect the high of placebo effect to last long; soon he was going to return to being cynical and cold, but hopefully not to the extent that he was earlier. 

Mentally, Arthur made a promise: he was going to try to do what the doctor said, no matter how badly his instincts want him to break, and that wanted him to fall back into a state of silence.   
With his newfound mentality, he tried his best to appear as though he was in a better mood; he couldn’t help but wonder how he would feel after many more sessions.   
For the first time in weeks, Arthur smiled at the Italian as they left the small building.

\------ 

Arthur stared at Alfred as soon as he opened the door to his office, staring out at the office that bustled with activity… people rushed to file things, talked to each other and bustled around like bees in a hive: except for Alfred, the very man that Arthur wanted to speak to. 

Arthur couldn’t help but liken the American to a statue, he sat at his desk with his back hunched over, and his blue eyes focussed on his laptop screen like a hawk would watch a landscape, searching for prey. Alfred took one long breath, his chest slowly rose but his determined face did not falter, with his eyes remaining locked on the screen. His eyes were narrow with focus and anger, and the laptop light glared off of his wide glasses, slightly reflecting the bright light of what was on the screen.   
Deep in thought, Alfred remained focussed even as Arthur began to walk towards him. The longer Arthur studied the Americans handsome face, the more curious he became as to what he was looking at, and why he appeared so angry while looking at it. 

“Alfred?” Arthur murmured, leaning over the American’s desk, startling him slightly. 

“Arthur!” Alfred beamed, the anger and determination completely dissolving from the American’s face, portraying the charismatic and bubbly man that Arthur knew. But now Arthur could see through his smiles, the longer Arthur looked into his eyes, the more he came to realise that the American was suffering just as much as he was, no amount of charisma can hide that now. “How can I help you?!”   
Arthur could see it; he was trying too hard to look as though nothing was wrong. But Arthur could see through it.   
Perhaps Alfred needs a night out as badly as Arthur does. 

Arthur had to be strong, using Berwald’s words as a guide, this can help him…. He needs to socialise more, besides, he wants to rely on Alfred to help him when Arthur feels down, how can he rely on Alfred when he doesn’t even know something is wrong with him.   
Arthur’s anxiety tried to tell him that he was better off alone, that anyone who tried to help him would only get hurt. That he can’t be helped, and he should leave everyone else alone rather than burden them with his problems.   
Arthur closed his eyes and took a deep breath, mentally bringing his negative thoughts to a halt: he did not have the time nor the patience for those right now, any second now, Alfred was going to ask him why he was standing there, staring down at him like some kind of creep. 

Arthur swallowed his pride and ignored his racing heart. He wanted nothing more than to walk away and forget about the whole idea, but he pushed himself through it all, and finally spoke, trying to not sound as anxious as he felt. 

“I was wondering… I’ve never been to America before, so I’d love to see the area…” Arthur murmured, trying his best to pretend that this idea was a sudden creation, and that he had not been thinking about how he was going to execute this for nearly an hour. “Maybe we can…” Arthur crossed his arms over his chest, trying his best to settle his beating heart and calm his face, but the American’s widened eyes make him want to run away and hide under his desk. Why was his anxiety so bad? This should be easy!! It’s not a date; it is just two colleagues going out for dinner!! 

“You wanna go out tonight?” Alfred guessed, smiling as though he already knew the answer. “Sure, I’d like that a lot.” 

“Good! It’s better than spending another night in that apartment…” Arthur chuckled.  
At the sight of Arthur’s chuckle, Alfred’s face lit up like he had just seen a firework. Arthur froze when he caught Alfred’s stare, immediately, he pushed the conversation forward. 

“So, pick somewhere to take me to dinner, and we can go right after work if you wish,” Arthur pointed out, leaning on Alfred’s desk to get a better look at his face, and also peer at what was on his computer. 

“What were you looking at earlier?” 

“I’m still trying to look through footage of tunnel entrances near Union Station… I know that bastard is out there…” Alfred pointed out as he resumed the footage of a tunnel entrance that stood under a bridge. Arthur watched as a train rolled out from the tunnel, rolling along the tracks. “This is from a week after Matt was taken. I noticed that a lot of homeless gather around that area, I’m seeing if anyone gets a little too close to the tracks.” 

“Right… Well, perhaps I can help you, what else do you need to look at?” Arthur asked, leaning down to be at eye-level with Alfred, watching the screen as the train rolled by and people walked across the bridge that covered the tunnel. 

“I… I don’t know. This is the last one, and I do have a couple of months of footage left… Maybe…” Alfred took a breath before looking to Arthur, almost startled by how close his face was to his own. “Do you wanna go in your office and review it with me?” 

Arthur nodded, and Alfred closed and picked up his laptop in one swoop, before following Arthur into his office, where Arthur quietly closed the door behind him, trying to hide the smile on his face.


	7. Chapter 7

A cold splash of chilled water forced Matthew out of his slumber, his entire body tensed as Matthew violently shivered as a laugh that was colder than the water echoed through the dark room. Instinctually, Matthew lifted his trembling right hand to adjust his cloudy oval glasses; however the handcuffs that kept his arm from lifting far away from the wooden arm of the chair. Groaning, Matthew tilted his head back, hearing his neck and back crack from the hours he had stayed in the uncomfortable upright position. 

“Rise and shine, little one~” A familiar voice cooed as Matthew adjusted his glasses with his free hand, “We have a big day ahead of us. Much, much to do! And I have a friend coming who will be very happy to see you!”   
A gloved hand grabbed Matthew by the chin, forcing him to look into the pale Russian’s piercing violet eyes. Despite the situation, Ivan’s eyes were clouded with joy, like he enjoyed looking at Matthew.   
“God, I cannot get over how big you’ve gotten! How long has it been since I’ve seen you...?” 

This question was asked routinely by the madman who held the Canadian captive. Matthew knew the correct answer, in a pained voice, he croaked, “Nearly twenty years…” 

Ivan smiled widely, before taking another breath from his cigarette, “You were so cute too, you didn’t know English and were as tall as my thigh. Big wide eyes and fluffy hair, following your father around like a puppy. So, so cute. So cute.” 

Matthew groaned as his head fell forward, his back cracking again from the strain, “fuck…” 

Ivan’s eyes darkened from the swearing, his imagine of the pure and precious younger Matthew that he loved fracturing slightly, “your papa wouldn’t like you saying that. You have a lot of things to do today, are you awake or do I need to fill the bucket? I’ll dunk your head in this time…” 

Matthew whimpered, knowing what work Ivan was talking about. Just a little longer, he thought: he can fight it. His friends are at risk if he doesn’t do it. Gritting his teeth, Matthew grumbled, “I’m not doing anything.” 

Ivan clenched his fist, the leather of his gloves cracking beside Matthews’s ear, instantly making him regret his choice of words… Ivan exhaled a cloud of smoke before he spoke, “Do you still wish to play games with me, little one? It’s been nearly eight months: they’re not going to find you, no matter how much you stall.” Matthew didn’t respond, but kept his head down as he felt Ivan’s hand travel up his hunched over back, no doubt feeling Matthew’s protruding spinal cord through his thin blue shirt. “Very well, I’ll play with you. Nothing is better to wake someone up in the morning than a bit of exercise.” 

Before Matthew could reply, he was pulled out of his seat and dragged away, the chair following them from Matthews’s handcuffed wrist. Matthew struggled, weakly trying to pull away; however his condition was so degraded: he struggled to keep on his feet as his knees buckled from the weight. His entire body ached from the months of hell, uncomfortable positions, sleep deprivation, starvation and strikes: Ivan had used every method in the book to ‘convince’ Matthew to do what he wants. 

As Matthew was pushed forward, he felt Ivan’s boot force him to the carpet, he groaned in pain as his tight muscled cried, still adjusting to the freedom of movement, and the chair fell down beside Matthew’s arm, still connected to him through the handcuff. “LEAVE ME ALONE!!” Matthew roared, until he felt Ivan’s hand push his shoulder down as he lifted his shirt off of his back, before sighing with relief. 

“You’re bruises are gone. Thank god!!” Ivan chirped. “Haha, I would be killed if you were hurt too badly; I promised that you would be unharmed, and I have kept it.” 

“Who did you promise that to?” Matthew asked. 

“You’ll find out later, little one,” Ivan replied as he lifted Matthew’s chair, pulling him up from the dirty burgundy carpet by the arm, before forcing him into the chair. Positioning him in front of the computer set-up that Ivan had created for him in the large and otherwise empty room. Dusty curtains were lifted from the windows that lined the wall, flooding the room with natural light, nearly blinding Matthew. “Now, I expect to see some improvement, don’t slack on me, or you will regret it!!” Ivan chuckled as he walked by Matthew again, this time rubbing his hair, before releasing the handcuff from his wrist, letting it drop to his side. “Toris will bring you your breakfast in an hour. I expect progress. Do I need to explain to you how the carrots and the sticks work again?”

“No.” Matthew grumbled, refusing to look at the Russian. 

“You don’t need to give me attitude!” Ivan snapped, his temper flaring as the volume of his voice rose dramatically. “Whatever, take your time, your friends will never find you anyway!!” 

Matthew sighed, thinking about the clue that he had left behind in his previous prison: the train storage room. He could only pray that Alfred had looked hard enough and saw his clue… but then… He doesn’t know whether they have found the room in the first place… or if they ever will…   
Matthew quivered when he heard the door slam behind Ivan, and the door lock. 

Matthew knew that his treatment here was only going to get worse if he didn’t act… Ivan knew perfectly well what Matthew was capable of, so there was no way he could trick the Russian with false progress. Matthew knew what Ivan wanted him to do… He had done it before… 

He remembered it all beginning when his father was taken away… Matthew had known since he was a child that his father broke the law, but he knew that he did it out of love. Matthew saw no fault in his father, and so the sight of his precious father being dragged away in handcuffs shook him to the core. He remembers his father holding him for the last time, crying as he told the ten-year old; ‘I love you, I’m going to see you again. It will be for a long time, so please do not forget me.’ 

And so it was then that Matthew grew to crave vengeance, especially upon discovering that the policemen involved in taking his beloved father away weren’t even Canadian: they were American CIA agents… What gave them the right to take his father away!? How dare they do this to their family!? Matthew didn’t understand, and became angry because of it. He was left alone with his struggling mother now…   
It wasn’t long before the police came back to the house to disrupt what little of his family Matthew had left, revealing that his father had escaped custody and was probably out of Canada by now. However, Matthew knew that he wasn’t going to be returning to them yet… it was far too dangerous of him to even be in Canada. 

By the time Matthew was fifteen; his mother got caught pneumonia from the hospital she worked in as a nurse, before passing nearly year later. Her death was the final tragedy that pushed the young Canadian over the edge... He was alone now, he was the lone child of a master criminal, his name alone being a social taboo, and now he was left alone to defend himself. 

Matthew was crushed beyond relief, he had spent months barricaded in the attic of his home, roaring and crying away his pain, drinking to beyond excessive levels: especially for a teenager as young as himself. Matthew was left young, and alone… Using the money his father had kept hidden away to support himself. It became regular to dishonour his budget to pay for his rising alcohol dependency…   
He wanted to die. He wanted to leave this earth in a raging fireball, anything to give the world hell!! He was angry beyond repair, and saw no trust in anyone else. 

The warmth in his eyes had melted away by the time he was sixteen, living alone in his Quebec home. In that attic he found his father’s old laptop, where it still had the contacts of all of his associates. Matthew remembered thinking that these people would be more than happy to help him create hell for the CIA, and so he called them and emailed them. Out of the fifty people he communicated with, ten expressed interest: the other forty told Matthew to fuck himself. However, out of the ten who seemed interested: only one actually pulled through with the agreement.   
It was this man who hid behind an alias that taught him how to use his father’s computer, and how he can use it to destroy. 

And that was all he needed to bring his plan into creation. Within a year, he had created this dreadful system by himself, using only notes and experimentation as a guide.   
The system worked by tricking his computer into thinking it belonged to a CIA agent, giving him access to their portals and emailing system, as well as documentation and communications between agents. It was then that he released a virus, designed specifically to kick every user out of the system, except for him. And so, that morning, when every CIA agent tried to log in to their system, they would be met with a red screen and a text box at the bottom, with the password being a complicated code that only Matthew knew.

He had built a system that would give the most experienced of CIA agents a run for their money; he had the CIA absolutely fucked! He had kicked the CIA out of its own system and locked the door behind them. 

He spent months monitoring the system, and foiling every attempt that the CIA made at fixing his hack. He sat back and waited for the world to respond, he religiously checked the Wall Street Journal and other American news outlets, waiting for the panic to begin… However… It didn’t come. Matthew growled, seeing that the CIA was pretending that everything was ok, and that enraged him. He wanted to see the panic and anger that they had caused him! He was alone because of them!! Why don’t they fear him!? 

He supposed that he would have to step it up a notch… He would pick something that every American fears…   
With more research, as well as his father’s friend pointing him in the right direction, Matthew acquired the materials needed to create a bomb… He had to admit that it wasn’t his strongest skill, he struggled to get the formula right for months, and in all of his field tests, the best he could do was destroy a car. He needed it to be stronger. 

By the time the one year anniversary of Matthew’s attack had passed, his sense of superiority had gotten the better of him, he became cocky and reckless and he performed another update of his system of terror. Incredibly drunk on power and beer, and he made a crucial mistake… And to his horror, he only realised it when he heard a heavy knock on the front door of his home, and when he peered past the curtain of the attic window, where he saw his entire front yard was swarming with police, and SWAT team… 

Matthew recoiled back into his attic, hands shaking with shock, he cursed as he threw his laptop into his bag, before snatching his wallet as he scrambled around the room to grab whatever he could in the attic and shoving into his bag. Matthew ran down from the attic as the knock on the door intensified, unsure if he’d make it downstairs in time before they decide to knock the door down. Consumed with panic, the Canadian opened the window to his backyard, reaching for the large tree that sat by the window. Weighing his options, Matthew decided to fuck it all and grabbed the tree, hooking his arms around it before leaping out and hissing in pain as he slid down the tree trunk, feeling the rough bark scratch his hands, eventually the pain became too much and he let go, landing flat on the pavement in his backyard. 

“HE’S OUT BACK!!” A voice roared as the front door crashed open, as well as the gate to his backyard.   
Matthew did the only thing he could, run. He ran across the garden before jumping over the fence and into the street behind his house, he ran away from the house as fast as he could, desperate to get away and with no place to go. 

“AGENT BEILSCHMIDT!!” A voice cried, as Matthew ran away, looking behind to see a figure dressed in padded black uniform flawlessly leap over Matthews fence, before focussing his sight on Matthew, engaging in chase. 

Matthew cursed as he dashed past pedestrians, entering a small shopping precinct of his neighbourhood, the area growing more and more crowded. 

Matthew knew that there was no way in hell he could outrun the agent; his best option was to hide. However, his chance of doing that became slimmer and slimmer, as he could literally hear the agents boots slam on the concrete as he ran behind him. 

Matthew turned the corner to enter an alleyway, desperate to create some distance between himself and the agent; however the agent grabbed Matthew by his laptop bag, pulling Matthew back. Desperate to get away, Matthew turned back and punched the agent in the face, finally getting a good look at the agents terrifying blue eyes and pulled back blonde hair. Despite the punch, the agent fought back, kneeing Matthew in the stomach before throwing him to the wall. Matthew tried to run again, but the pain in his abdomen from and head forced him to the dirty ground. Only for the agent to force him to his stomach, pressing him down with his boot.   
Matthew growled loudly as he felt his hands being trapped in handcuffs. 

“REMAIN CALM, WHAT IS YOUR NAME?!” The agent asked, revealing a thick and absolutely terrifying German accent. “STAY ON THE GROUND!!”

Reaching for his French-Canadian roots; Matthew swore, “Vas te faire foutre!” 

“I know you speak English!” The agent growled, before grabbing Matthew by the shoulders, forcing him onto his knees, looking at the German.   
The expression on the Agents face quickly changed when he looked at Matthew’s face… he froze and stared at Matthew’s youthful features, shocked.   
“You’re not… You look just like… You must be…” He stuttered, before looking into Matthew’s eyes, reading the terror in the young Canadians eyes. “How old are you?” 

“S-sixteen…” Matthew whimpered as he heard more officers enter the alleyway, guns ready. 

“You’re just a child…” The agent whimpered, struggling to come to terms with the fact as he pulled Matthew off of the ground. 

\---- 

“Matthew,” A voice murmured, bringing Matthew out of his daydream and into the cold reality he was living through. He looked up at the man who stood behind his chair, carrying a Styrofoam food package, and the smell of pancakes and maple syrup wafting from the box, immediately awakening Matthew’s appetite. 

Matthew didn’t say anything to the brunette as he placed the box and a set of plastic utensils on the table, sitting it beside the keyboard. Matthew saw him look at the screen, noticing that Matthew hadn’t touched it since last night. With a pained stare, Toris looked at Matthew with saddened eyes. “Matthew…”   
Matthew turned his head to avoid Toris’ stare, knowing that the Lithuanian doesn’t have the heart to scare him, despite working for a dangerous psychopath; Matthew noticed that the man was inexperienced and soft.   
“He’s going to be angry if you don’t do at least something. He’s getting worse, and I’d hate to see him at his worst. I’m trying to help you, if you don’t step up, it’s going to get worse, and Ivan has a short fuse.”  
Matthew looked up at Toris, refusing to speak, but trying his best to communicate his displeasure and defiance with his eyes.   
“Just… I’m getting scared too… But, hopefully it improves; Ivan has an old friend coming to help us today. He will help you too, and make you very happy. Maybe then you’ll want to get some work done.”   
Toris stared at Matthew as if he expected a reply, however, months of anguish and pain had made Matthew’s cold glare unbreakable. 

“TORIS!” An angry voice snapped from outside of Matthew’s room, Matthew knew immediately who the voice belonged to. “YOU’RE TAKING AWFULLY LONG IN THERE AGAIN! WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, HUH?!” 

“Shit,” Toris gasped, shivering with fear before glancing down at Matthew again, as though thinking about something else to say as the panic within him rose. But without saying another word, Toris ran from Matthews’s room, locking the sliding door closed behind him, leaving Matthew alone with his breakfast and his thoughts. 

\---- 

When Matthew was arrested, he expected to go straight to jail. Fuck the trial, the CIA had too much evidence against him. They have his computer, and there’s no doubt that they will find the bomb supplies in his garage. He’s fucked. Well and truly fucked. 

He sat alone in the interrogation room, the hood of his black hoodie covering his matted blonde hair; he stared at his handcuffed wrists with poisonous eyes, just wanting to die already.   
He didn’t look up when the door opened and two men walked in. The two agents sat directly across from Matthew, staring at him in silence as Matthew refused to acknowledge them. 

“Before we start anything,” A soft voice began, in a charming Italian accent, “We need to know, did you really do all of this by yourself? Excluding your fathers associate.” 

“Fuck you both.” Matthew spat, not interested in this pointless interrogation, they’re agents of the CIA, they shouldn’t give a shit about what he has to say, the evidence is everywhere. He is guilty as sin. 

Matthew could hear the deep sigh of one of the Agents, knowing that he was pushing his patience, “Alright, child, if you want to be here all night, we are fine with it.” 

“We just want to speak to you, we’re not going to hurt you or take you away. We are trying to help you.” 

Matthew finally glanced up at the two agents, immediately recognising the blonde German agent as the one who arrested him yesterday. This time he got a better look at the agent, he had a harsh and strong face with piercing icy blue eyes and his light blonde hair was tightly pulled back, making him look even more professional and hardened. Just by looking at him, Matthew could tell that he was an experienced agent.   
His associate appeared to be the polar opposite, he was tanned, petite, and with warm auburn eyes and matching loosely hanging hair framing his sweet smile and wide eyes. 

“Now please, answer our questions and then we will get you your dinner, how does that sound?” The sweet one explained, “Did you really do all of that work by yourself?” 

“Yes…” Matthew murmured, summing it up as simply as he could. 

“Alright…” The Italian murmured, “My name is Feliciano, and this is Ludwig; you must remember him from yesterday.” 

Before Matthew could respond, Ludwig spoke, “Have you had any contact with your father following his arrest and escape from Canada?” 

“No…” Matthew replied, meekly shaking his head. 

“So, you developed this system all by yourself?” Ludwig asked, “Yes or no.” 

“Yes,” Matthew grumbled. 

“Wow…” Feliciano gasped. 

Matthew finally had it, he wanted to leave right now, and he hated this: they were not only talking about what he did, but they had brought up his father: he wondered what else they would bring up. Matthew finally lifted his head properly, fixing his posture as he pushed the hood off of his head, he gave the agents a poisonous glare as he growled through his teeth, “Yeah, I’m guilty, and let me guess, you want to ask if I got that shit in my garage too? Yeah, that stuff is mine, and I knew what I was doing with it.” 

“We were going to get to that later,” Feliciano admitted, “However, we aren’t here to judge you for what you did. We want to talk to you about what you can do.” 

“What do you mean?” Matthew asked. 

“We think you have so much potential, and we don’t want to see it thrown away in jail. You are worth more than that,” Feliciano began as he leant forward over the table, catching Matthew in his intense stare. “What you did even threw me through a hoop, I was stuck for months on your system; you gave me the challenge of my life and it was amazing.” 

“What…?” Matthew gulped. 

“In short,” Ludwig grumbled, pulling Feliciano back down onto his seat, like keeping a puppy on a leash. “We don’t want to see you go to jail. So we are willing to make a deal with you. If you attend and graduate from a reformation program, you will be offered a position as an Agent in the CIA, working alongside us.” 

“You’re fucking kidding me, right?” Matthew asked, his eyes darting between Ludwig and Feliciano, asking for one of them to break the façade and drag him to prison. “What…?” The longer Matthew stared at the agents and the more convinced of their offer he became, the more confused he became. 

“We know what kind of world you came from, we know about your father, your mother and what you have been through. It explains everything that you did,” Feliciano explained, “we don’t want to send you to prison, and a lot of work has gone into giving you this deal. Please, take it…” 

“I…” Matthew gasped, unsure of how to feel. 

“We want to give you a second chance,” Ludwig explained as Matthews hard exterior finally began to crumble. His fists trembled in his handcuffs as he bit down so hard on his lip, he was afraid of making it bleed. 

Matthew took the deal and attended reformation sessions daily for over a year, while attending an American high school. It was then that his name was changed to Matthew Williams, and his former identity died along with the virus he created. Matthew graduated from High School and completed his reformation program, passing as the perfect student, and now the perfect citizen. 

The difference between who Matthew was when he entered the program and who he was when he left couldn’t be more different. He left with a sense of respect, loyalty and dignity, he now thought about his actions before speaking out. He became a quiet observer, analysing the situation around him before acting, determined to right the wrongs he did against the CIA.   
He wanted to do good; and now nothing was holding him back. 

He remembered what happened to his father, and was still saddened by that part of his history, however, he wished to put that part of his life behind him and move on. He hadn’t seen his father in ten years by that point, and he found himself still silently crying over how much he loved him and missed him… Matthew wished that he could tell his Papa how much he missed him, and how well he is doing now. Of course, he knew that his father would be shocked by what he did and how much he has changed, but Matthew could only imagine his loving father being proud of him. 

After graduating from High School and the reformation program, Matthew enrolled into a police training academy, the final stage before becoming an agent.   
It was at this Police academy that he met his dorm-partner, Alfred and the two young men instantly became close friends. However, no matter how hard he wanted to, he could never tell Alfred about who he was before he entered to police academy. 

Instantly, the brains and the brawn of the class became best friends, determined to make it to the CIA together. In fact, Alfred wouldn’t have been offered a job in Washington if it wasn’t for Matthew pulling the strings with Feliciano and Ludwig, and making them offer him a position with Matthew. 

Alfred was the first friend that Matthew had ever made on his own, Alfred didn’t know who he was, didn’t know about his family or what he did… The fact that Alfred became his friend without knowing a thing about his past amazed him, as he never believed that he was worth a friendship like this… Matthew finally felt normal, what was left of his anger and resentment had disappeared within a year of meeting Alfred. Alfred made him smile and laugh harder than Matthew had in years, and made him feel genuine joy…   
And so the sight of Alfred tied up on a conveyer belt, his eyes filled with terror and a saw buzzing by his feet pushed him over the edge… 

\---- 

Matthew hung his head in disappointment, sighing deeply as his hands fell to his side. He hated the fact that he was doing this again, he is going to hurt Ludwig and Feliciano again, and now Alfred is going to suffer too… 

Although Matthew had done little work today, he knew that Ivan was getting closer and closer to getting what he wanted. And it was all Matthew’s fault… 

Matthew tightly closed his eyes as he heard voices coming from outside of his door, knowing that Ivan was going to check on him and see how little progress he made, naturally Matthew feared the worst… 

“Ivan…You seem tense, should I be worried?” A voice said, in a soothing accent, European… but what struck Matthew was the fact that it sounded familiar. "I'm already nervous now..." 

“I’m fine. I’m just starting to get ideas again…” Ivan admitted. 

“You haven’t been taking medication, have you?” The voice asked again. 

“Ha!” Ivan cackled as he slid the door open, “I never have, now: this is the proof to my words…”   
Matthew heard the man gasp as silence filled the room. Matthew could feel his eyes on the back of his head as he remained hunched over. 

“Oh…” The man choked as he ran to Matthew, immediately taking him into his arms. Matthew tensed, confused as to why this man was holding him so tightly. “My boy!!” He cried, shuddering from tears as he held on tightly to Matthew, “I promised that I would see you again!”   
Suddenly, Matthew’s eyes snapped open, realising what that meant… Matthew shuddered as he felt those familiar warm arms hold him tightly and warmly, showering the top of his head with loving kisses. Matthew tried to speak, but no words could come out… Matthew’s body shut down as his raging heartbeat took control… Now the voice suddenly became so familiar to him, because he missed it for fifteen years…   
Without words, Matthew took hold of the man and held him closely, pulling him down to his level. The man willingly knelt before Matthew and held him tightly, whimpering and crying silently.   
“Oh thank god!” He purred, taking Matthews face into his hands and showing Matthew his face, and confirming his suspicions. “Oh my dear boy… Thank god you haven’t forgotten me…”   
Matthew was still lost for words, his throat tightening with shock as he stared into that same loving stare from the man with warm sky blue eyes… He smiled at Matthew as though he was the most precious thing he had ever seen, wiping the running tears off of Matthew’s pale cheek. 

"P..." Matthew stuttered, struggling to even breathe against his raging heartbeat... 

“It’s ok, my dear Mathieu… Papa’s here…”


	8. Chapter 8

Alfred almost couldn’t believe that Arthur asked him out to dinner, was this a date, or was he really just desperate for company? 

Now he had to think about where he was going to take him… Denny’s? Nah, he doesn’t want to make Arthur too full to move, besides; Alfred wants to impress him. Olive Garden? That’s also a no, the closest restaurant he knows is a long drive away, and the evening traffic would make it even longer, he wants to give Arthur dinner, not a midnight snack.  
What does he even like? Why does Alfred have to make the decision? Oh right, he’s the local and there’s no way in hell he’s going to let Arthur drive in peak hour traffic.  
And then he remembered, there is a Japanese restaurant across the road from his apartment building, he has never eaten in there before, but it looks really fancy. He has always wanted to eat there… Perhaps this is the place where he should take Arthur.

Just thinking about the Englishman out to dinner made Alfred’s heart race… This was something that Alfred had imagined, he had been captivated by him ever since he was featured in the Newsletter. Arthur was something that even Matthew would make fun of him for. Alfred could remember vividly how Matthew would laugh and call him a stalker whenever he found out something new about Arthur. Heh, he’d joke about how Alfred knew so few gay people in Washington; he had to find someone to crush on all the way in the UK: a joke that only Matthew was allowed to make.  
Hell, Matthew probably will have a hard time believing that this is actually happening: Arthur going to dinner with Alfred, but Matthew’s going to be so happy when he learns that THE Arthur Kirkland was brought in to help find him. It’s going to be great when they have Matthew back… Alfred couldn’t wait to have his best friend back. 

Alfred glanced over at Arthur to see his eyes narrow in thought. To Alfred; he was the most attractive man on earth; he had been captivated ever since he saw him in the newsletter nearly a year ago. His crush was so intense, he had gotten to the point where he fantasised about meeting Arthur and charming him, however he was never prepared for that opportunity to actually come. The newsletter described Arthur as an ‘experienced, hardworking and charismatic agent who put the safety of his city before himself, a true hero we should all look up to. Despite all of the struggles he has faced, he still puts his duty above everything else.’ On top of that, the picture that they used for Arthur was stunning, he was standing on a bridge, wearing a short grey trench-coat with cream inner-lining and slimming black pants, revealing his stunning and slender figure. He was leaning back against the detailed stone railing of the bridge in London and looking sideways towards the photographer, giving a look that could kill... His bold eyebrows only drew more attention to his beautiful eyes… His eyes were wide enough for Alfred to see the stunning green shade that radiated from them, and his slight smile just caught Alfred by the heart and refused to let him go. Alfred remembered staring at that picture for over a minute, just analysing and memorising every detail of his face… Instantly Alfred was caught like a fish to a hook, and he knew that there was no way that he was ever going to forget that face… His heart raced as he took in a deep breath, feeling his body buzz in excitement as he stared at the beautiful man on the paper. Arthur Kirkland had Alfred’s heart before he even knew who he was.  
But of course, Alfred didn’t know Arthur either. He doesn’t even know if Arthur would even consider being in a relationship with a man, this missing detail in his information about Arthur did worry him…  
Alfred was so distracted by his thoughts; he was caught off-guard when Arthur suddenly turned to look at him, frowning in confusion. 

“You right?” Arthur quipped, frowning with confusion. 

“Yep!” Alfred replied, instantly turning away, pretending to focus on the laptop in front of them, like he was focussed on that the entire time. “Well, there aren’t many places left to look in terms of train station footage, perhaps we should let Feliciano take care of the rest of it and move on to something else.” 

“Alright then…” Arthur murmured as he leant back on the couch, rubbing his face with his hands. “But what else can we do, we are stuck without knowing what station it is that Ivan filmed his ransom video at. Until we find that, we’re at a dead-end.”

“Fuck…” Alfred growled, “But I know we’ll find something, we’re going to get him back, I can feel it. We’re going to give Braginski hell for this. Heh, he’s gonna be so happy to know that you’re here to help.”  
Arthur smiled at Alfred, admiring his unbreakable optimism, “So, have you thought about tonight?” 

“Hm? Oh yeah, I know a nice Japanese place that’s across from my apartment building, do you like the sound of that?” Alfred asked, his heart racing as Arthur’s bold eyes darted in his direction, and a smile curved his thin and soft looking lips, all Alfred could do was pray that he wasn’t blushing as he had been doing so well in pretending that he didn’t have these feelings around Arthur.

“That does sound nice,” Arthur replied. “Will we go straight there after work, or…?” 

“Well, if you like I could pick you up; we can have a late dinner… Maybe have some drinks after…” Alfred began to internally panic, where was he going with this?! Despite this, he leaned back against the couch, giving Arthur a charismatic smile. 

“Oh,” Arthur murmured, going slightly pink in the cheeks as his posture dramatically changed; obviously caught off guard, “I suppose that sounds nice. But I’m not fussed, really.”  
Suddenly, the thoughts of Arthur’s relationship status returned to him and Alfred slowly became worried… Had he done the wrong thing? 

Alfred pushed away his worries and focused back on the case at hand, finding Matthew was supposed to be his top priority. He and Arthur pushed aside their conversation and quickly moved onto another task; Arthur decided that he will relook over the footage from outside of the warehouse following Matthew’s kidnapping, where Alfred knew that he would see Matthew being thrown into the backseat of an unmarked car before being driven away. Whereas Alfred moved out of Arthur’s office and back to his own desk to continue writing his progress report, as Ludwig gave him the task of keeping every file relating to the case updated: which was usually a job that went to Feliciano.

At six o’clock at night, Alfred finally finished and was satisfied with his effort; he left his desk and made his way to Arthur’s office, with his heart in his throat and his palms sweating… He opened the door to Arthur’s office and casually leaned against the doorframe, crossing his arms over his chest. Arthur was at his desk with his laptop open, it took a couple of seconds before Arthur looked up at him and smiled.  
“You ready to go?” Alfred asked. 

“Yes, just give me a minute,” Arthur replied as he rose from his seat and closed his laptop, “so are you going to drop me home first?” 

“Yeah, and I’ll pick you up at seven-thirty, from what I’ve seen of the restaurant, I suggest we dress in smart-casual,” Alfred explained, his charming smile hiding his waves of insecurity, what if he was doing the wrong thing? What if he shouldn’t treat this as a date?  
Should he ask? No, that would make things incredibly awkward, even if the answer was yes; he may as well go with it and hope for the best. Perhaps Arthur would come to like him even more if he projected the most attractive parts of his personality. If it wasn’t a date, Alfred was going to try his best to make Arthur want it to be one.  
Alfred thought of what he could do as he held open the car door for Arthur, letting the Englishman take his place in the passenger seat of Alfred’s black car. Alfred straightened his black business jacket as he walked around the car to get to the driver’s side, before sliding in through the door himself.  
However, when he began driving he looked at Arthur, and saw the Englishman staring aimlessly out the window, his thoughts occupying his head completely, and so Alfred chose to remain silent. He was told to be careful around Arthur, everyone in the office knew about what happened to him, and understood that sometimes he required space to think. That’s why Ludwig and Feliciano sent him to see Dr Oxenstierna; they’re worried he may have PTSD, and they didn’t want it to hurt him too badly. 

Alfred didn’t blame them for worrying nor could he blame Arthur, because who wouldn’t have PTSD after going through such a thing? Sure, Alfred didn’t know all of the details, but he knew enough to feel sorry for Arthur and feel some kind of duty to make life just a little bit easier for him, even if it meant shutting up for once…  
Although, he occasionally looked to Arthur to check if he was ok, only to see that his facial expression had not changed at all. However, in Arthur’s eyes, Alfred could only see more pain brewing, perhaps even on the urge of tears. He has seen Arthur in this state many times throughout the day, and would occasionally finding himself looking to the door of Arthurs office, wondering whether he was doing it then. Arthur looked as though his thoughts were pushing him closer and closer to the edge, and Alfred couldn’t imagine what painful thoughts were running through his mind, what kind of thoughts could push the one in control to crying, perhaps Arthur wasn’t as in control of his thoughts as Alfred first predicted.  
Perhaps now would be the time for Alfred to step in and take him away from the thoughts that appear to be hurting him. 

“Arthur,” Alfred murmured, slowing down the car to stop at a traffic light. After not received a response, Alfred repeated it again, but in a firmer and louder voice, but not enough to suggest frustration, “Arthur.” 

“W-what?” Arthur stuttered, coming back to reality, suddenly sitting up straight. 

“How’re you feeling?” Alfred asked, “Heh, is work making you tired?” 

“Yes…” Arthur replied rubbing his eyebrows, still bringing himself out of his thoughts; looking and sounding as though he had just woken up from a nap, “Just a little bit, I had a late night last night…” 

“Oh, I get it,” Alfred replied, trying his best to steer Arthur away from his thoughts, “so, were you always living in London?” 

“Hm?” Arthur murmured, “I grew up in Brighton, it’s about an hour and a half drive from London.”

“Oh, that’s pretty cool, what’s it like?” 

“Well, I lived near the coast, so it was very chilly at times, but I still loved it… Hm… I’m not sure what else to say, how does one describe where they grew up? Everything just seems so normal. Although, I can’t deny that it is beautiful…” Arthur explained, a smile slowly curving across his thin lips, “I’d remember waking up early in the morning for a bike ride as a young boy and I’d taste the salty wind as a rode past the beach, seeing the sunlight begin to remove the greyness of the cold night sky…” 

Alfred smiled as he watched Arthur’s expression change, like a sunrise of his own had taken over from the greyness of his pain, like he was finally feeling ok again. “That sounds great, how long did you live there?” 

“Twenty years, and then I moved to London and worked to join MI5, and I haven’t looked back since,” Arthur explained as Alfred slowly stopped the car in front of the entrance to Arthur’s apartment building. “But wait; what about you?” 

Alfred smiled as the car came to a complete stop, “We can talk more at dinner, ok? I’ll be here at seven-thirty.” 

“Hm,” Arthur chuckled, flashing Alfred a charming smile as he started to exit the car, “I’ll see you then, don’t be late.” Arthur stepped out of the car, and closed the door behind him with a soft ‘thud’, leaving Alfred to drive home alone.  
As soon as the door to Alfred’s apartment shut, Alfred released a heavy sigh, knowing that his day was not over yet. He dropped his messenger bag onto the dining table and walked past his kitchen and living area. He scoped the area as he made his way to the bedroom, deciding that he should clean the apartment before he left to pick up Arthur, just in case… 

Alfred dashed around his apartment, picking up any loose pieces of clothing, tidied up the couches by rearranging the decorative pillows, wiped down the kitchen bench before packing up and neatly storing away his game console. He even went to the level of dusting the tall bookshelf where he stored his endless collection of videogames and DVDs. Alfred was determined to reflect a neat personality through his apartment, and it was a clean that was long overdue, perhaps he should drag Arthur back to his apartment purely to justify the effort he put into making it presentable.  
After his run of cleaning, Alfred finally worked on making himself look presentable. He debated just wearing a different suit that he kept for work, before reminding himself that he told Arthur to dress ‘smart-casual’ and he’d hate to appear overdress. 

Fuck, it’s just CLOTHING, why was Alfred stressing so much, it’s not like he hasn’t been on a date before.  
However… He had to admit that he had never been on a date with someone Alfred considered to be his idol-- WAIT, but he doesn’t even know if this is a date!! Alfred had to pull his imagination and expectations back down to earth, and remind himself that he doesn’t know if Arthur even likes men, let alone someone like him, this dinner could mean absolutely nothing to Arthur.  
“Oh my fucking God…” Alfred growled as he threw on another shirt.  
With his third outfit of the evening complete, Alfred stepped in front of the mirror to assess and critique… but found very little to actually critique and found himself to be very impressed with what he threw together.  
He had managed to find his cleanest white t-shirt and threw on a dark grey blazer and black jeans, enough smart and enough causal, and it did look nice with his glasses. After flashing a charming smile, Alfred decided that this outfit was the one that he was going to stick with.  
At quarter past seven Alfred dashed to his car, terrified of running late to pick up Arthur, especially since he left it to such a close time.  
However, to his luck, he did make it. He was so close, that he watched Arthur leave the apartment building and look around for Alfred. Keen to show his best personality, Alfred got out of his car to wave at Arthur and even go as far as opening the door for him. 

“You don’t have to do that for me, you know,” Arthur quipped as he walked down the concrete steps towards Alfred, crossing his arms over his chest as his head tilted to the side, “but thank you for the gesture.”  
Alfred tried not to make his blush obvious as he looked at Arthur from head to toe, taking in every inch of view that the Englishman had to offer him.  
Once again, the Brit had managed to take Alfred’s breath away seemingly without even trying. His slender figure was hugged by a white buttoned up shirt with a black tie and black sweater that had been folded up to his elbows, tight black jeans hugged his legs and black lace-up shoes were on his feet. 

Alfred tried to stare for too long as Arthur made his way towards him, Alfred chuckled, “Well, you’re still the guest here. You look nice, by the way.” 

Arthur’s eyes narrowed at Alfred as he stood next to him before getting into the car, only with the car door standing in between them. Alfred was left staring hopelessly into Arthur’s eyes as the Englishman chuckled, “I can say the same about you.” 

The drive back to Alfred’s apartment building was short and sweet, with the two engaging in small conversation on topics from work to what they had spent their time doing before their meeting. Of course Alfred lied and said that he relaxed, rather than running around cleaning his apartment. 

A joke between the two of them began as soon as Alfred parked his car and Arthur rushed to get himself out of the car; determined to not let Alfred open the door for him again. Arthur laughed as he watched Alfred dash across of the front of the car, determined to play along. 

“I swear, I will get you next time,” Alfred joked as Arthur smirked, closing the car door behind him.

“I’ll race you then,” Arthur quipped, “Now; how far away is this place again?” 

“Just across the road,” Alfred answered as he guided Arthur by placing his hand on his back. “It looks really nice, so hopefully the food’s good.” 

Alfred smiled warmly down at Arthur as he escorted him across the street, fighting the urge to shiver from the coldness of the Washington DC night. Arthur seemed to be fine in the cold, perhaps he was used to it, Alfred thought.  
Alfred held the door open for Arthur as they entered the red restaurant, being greeted with warmth from an indoor heater. The restaurant was painted almost entirely red, which was intensified by the warm orange glow of the hanging ceiling lights, the wall was littered with exquisite and detailed Japanese art. 

“Whoa…” Alfred gasped as Arthur confirmed to a young waitress that they were a party of two.

Sitting down at the small table across from each other, Alfred could feel the butterflies come to life within the pit of his stomach. 

“Oh, you still haven’t told me, where did you grow up?” Arthur asked as he and Alfred began to look through the menu. 

Glancing over the look at Arthur past his menu, Alfred chuckled, “I grew up in Cypress, and it’s an area that’s near Los Angeles. And… I’ve been there my entire life, up until I had to move away for the police academy, and then I had to move out here. Oh my God, the weather was fantastic, even in winter there was sunshine and cloudless blue skies. It was always interesting to look on the News during winter and hear about the snow causing chaos on the other side of the country. But now I guess since it snows here, I’m now the butt of that joke.” 

“How sweet,” Arthur murmured, “Why did you join the CIA?”

“I’ve always wanted to be a cop, ever since I was a kid. My dad was an officer, and I’d hear about how he protected people and took the bad people off of the streets, he was keeping us safe and I admired that.” Alfred explained, “And growing up near LA, I always was exposed to the cool image of ‘the secret agent’ and well, everything kinda fell into place. I’m actually amazed that I got a place in the CIA, especially with Matt, it was way too good to be true, but there was no way in hell that I wasn’t going to take it.” 

“That’s really good,” Arthur agreed, “I suppose it was fate then, hm?” 

“Maybe.” Alfred agreed, “What about you? What drew you towards MI5?” 

“Allistor…” Arthur admitted, before taking a small sip of water from his glass, as though preparing himself for what he was going to explain. “Honestly, it all started with him… We wanted to stay together, and so we looked for the same careers, and eventually that led us to both be offered positions within the MI5, from there was climbed up the ladder until we were given our positions. I didn’t want it any other way.” 

“That sounds great,” Alfred admitted, leaning forward as he rested his elbows on the black wooden table, “I guess family means a lot to both of us.” 

“Yes,” Arthur replied, smiling, but Alfred could tell that thinking about Allistor has brought some pain back into Arthur’s heart. 

Alfred instantly thought of something to distract him, “You know; I did the funniest thing to Matt last year. I sent him the entire script of the Bee Movie in an email, and he had to read it.”

Instantly Arthur frowned, “I’m sorry, what? The Bee Movie?”

“Yeah. I managed to get into his phone and change the password. And when he asked me for it, I told him to check his emails, where I had sent him the entire script of the Bee Movie.”  
As Arthur started to chuckle, Alfred knew that he was doing his job right. Arthur’s smile encouraged Alfred to keep going with his story, “And In a scene somewhere Barry says to a guy ‘My sweater is Ralph Lauren, and I have no pants,’ is where I put his new password.”  
At this point, Arthur was laughing out loud and Alfred couldn’t help but chuckle himself, “He wanted to KILL ME.” 

“Oh my God!” Arthur laughed. 

“I’m not even kidding, he even threatened me! But I had to leave for an appointment, so he had no choice but to read the script of the fucking Bee Movie!!” Alfred explained, his voice rising in pitch as the volume of his laughter became harder to control. “I came to work the next morning and he was on his phone, and he gave me the EVILIST look!” 

“Are you ready to order?” A young waitress asked as she approached Alfred and Arthur’s table. 

“I’ve decided, how about you?” Arthur asked, still smiling as his cheeks burned from the short laughing fit. 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Alfred agreed, before looking to the waitress and handing his menu to her, “I’ll have the Fukotonei Don, please.” 

“And I’ll have the Salmon Sashimi Don, thank you,” Arthur explained, smiling sweetly to the young woman. 

“And any drinks?” 

Alfred and Arthur glanced at each other, both having not really considered what they were going to drink. It was Alfred who broke the silence, “I’ll take a beer, thanks.” 

“Make that two, actually.” 

As soon as the waitress disappeared, Alfred and Arthur returned to their conversation, “so, how long have you and Matthew known each other?”

“We became best friends at the Police Academy around… four years ago. But anyways, we were roommates and we’ve been inseparable ever since. He’s become a brother to me; he’s even started spending Christmas with my family.”

“How sweet,” Arthur sighed as the waitress placed their brown bottles of beer on the wooden table.

“I know now that he has told me things that aren’t necessarily true, like his parents and where he came from. But I understand why, and I forgive him, I just can’t wait to tell him that. I can’t wait to have him back and kick some serious ass while we do it.” 

“Good, because we’ll stop at nothing.” Arthur promised, “I can’t wait to meet him.” 

“Yeah, and he’ll be so damn happy to learn that you came here to help.” 

“I take it that he’s read the newsletter too, hm?” Arthur asked, chuckling as one bold eyebrow rose, instantly Alfred’s heartrate accelerated, he had completely forgotten that Arthur knew about the newsletter where Alfred learned who he was. “I still have yet to see it, by the way.” 

“I dunno, I’ll see if I can dig it up for you,” Alfred chuckled, trying to act as though he didn’t already know where it could be found. “It talked about the work you had done, and how you were someone to look up to. I sure do. I really mean it, thank you for coming all the way here to help us.” 

Arthur smiled before taking a sip from his bottle of beer, his alluring eyes focussing on Alfred, “I’m glad that I came.” 

Alfred decided then that it was now or never, he has to ask Arthur about his availability, perhaps then he can figure out whether he has a shot with him.  
God, who is he kidding? Arthur is not only gorgeous; he’s a fucking British secret agent! He must have an entire harem of women waiting for him back home…. But still, Alfred swallowed his anxiety and spoke, “Tell me more about London, do you have a girlfriend or anything?” 

“Um, I haven’t had a partner for a couple of years actually, I work too much.”  
WHAT? He’s single, but shit, that still doesn’t help Alfred much, he doesn’t know whether he’d still be interested in men in general, a partner could be anybody! “Well, what about you? Tell me about what lovely lady you’re with.” 

“Well!” Alfred chuckled, trying his best to not flaunt his sexuality so much it became awkward, but if he dropped the hint to Arthur, perhaps he will understand just a little bit. “I did date a girl in high school, but quickly I discovered something about myself that she didn’t exactly agree with, if you get what I’m saying.”  
To Alfred’s horror, Arthur didn’t respond but took another drink from his beer, looking completely unfazed by what Alfred had just admitted.  
“UM, but no, I haven’t been in a relationship for a while.” 

“Shame.” Arthur murmured, his cheeks burning slightly.  
Fucking hell, Alfred thought as he took a couple of pained mouthfuls of his beer, feeling like he wanted to drown in it.  
“You seem like the kind of guy it would be really fun to be with.” 

“Hm?” Alfred asked.

“Well, you’re always smiling, you are funny and you’re a really nice guy,” Arthur explained, “I suppose anyone would be lucky to have you.” 

“Oh come on,” Alfred scoffed, “I’m a klutz, a bit thick in the head and I mess up a lot. Hell, I feel like it’s my fault that Matt is missing in the first place!”  
At this admission, Alfred could feel himself crumbling. It was true, he felt as though it was his fault that Matthew was kidnapped. If Alfred hadn’t been so fucking naïve he wouldn’t have fallen for Ivan’s trap. 

“It was not your fault!” Arthur snapped. “Ivan was going to get to Matthew, no matter what. If this plan didn’t work, he would have done something else, and who knows what that guy can do when he’s desperate. More people could have been hurt.”  
Alfred’s eyes widened as he listened to Arthur talk, slightly shaken by how emotive Arthur had become over this subject. “I refuse to let you blame yourself for this. I know how much it hurts to blame yourself—“ Arthur cut himself off, shaking slightly, obviously being haunted by his own memories, but before Alfred could intervene and change the topic, Arthur spoke again.  
“I’m sorry, but you’re doing all you can to get Matthew back, and that itself is admirable. And I’m sure that he will be proud of you. I don’t want you to feel as though this is all your fault… It’s an ugly state of mind and I don’t want it to drag you down.” 

“T-Thank you…” Alfred whimpered as the waitress came to the table carrying their food. Alfred looked up to the waitress with a sweet smile. 

Throughout the course of their dinner, the subject did change to a lighter mood; they spoke like they had known each other for years. To Alfred’s amazement, Arthur was smiling more in that hour that they were talking, than he had seen since they first met. He couldn’t be prouder of the fact that he was the one making Arthur smile like that, smiling like he wasn’t in pain, smiling like the people around him weren’t worried about his wellbeing.  
The food was fantastic and was better than Alfred expected, this situation really felt like a date to him, alcohol, smiles and a fancy dinner. The only thing stopping this from being declared a date is that Alfred doesn’t know how Arthur feels about this situation. For all Alfred knows, Arthur could think that this is just two work friends getting dinner, not a potential relationship. Alfred could only hope. 

His smile was infectious, and made Arthur appear even more handsome than usual. Alfred could feel the butterflies raging into a frenzy within his stomach, being tickled by the introduction of alcohol in his system. It must have been the alcohol triggering this, but Alfred’s heart ached, he has had this crush on Arthur for so long, and now he was right in front of him, and Alfred felt as though he wasn’t taking full advantage of the situation before him. Alfred wanted to ask him out, but he didn’t know for sure whether dating men was even an option for Arthur, no less someone who lived in another country… Maybe if he just tried… 

“Do you want to go back to my place after dinner?” Alfred asked. 

Arthur’s eyes widened at the suggestion, “I suppose that sounds good. Are you finished?”

“Yeah,” Alfred pointed out as he checked for any remaining food in his empty bowel, and looked over to see that Arthur was finished as well. “I’ll grab the bill.” 

“Right,” Arthur murmured as he slid his wallet out of his pants pocket. 

“Hey, what are you doing? Put that back, I’m taking care of this,” Alfred explained, taking the bill from the waitress, “Tonight is on me.” 

“Oh you… fine then, I’ll pay next time,” Arthur pointed out, making Alfred smile widely at the fact that there will be a next time. 

After paying the bill, Alfred escorted Arthur out of the restaurant, both feeling slightly giddy from the joy of the evening and the presence of alcohol in their system; Alfred and Arthur made their way back to Alfred’s apartment building.  
As they walked into the building, Alfred fought the urge to hold Arthur’s hand, this felt so much like a date to him, and he struggled to think of it as anything else. Perhaps the answer to his questions would become clearer later in the night… It was nearly nine o’clock; he has a lot of time left to entertain Arthur.  
When the door to Alfred’s apartment closed, Alfred could feel the butterflies awaken again, Arthur was in his apartment now, looking around his living room. 

“This is a really nice apartment; I can’t believe you keep it so neat.” 

“Haha, I try…” Alfred muttered as he opened up the kitchen cupboard, to take out a bottle of bourbon. “Want some bourbon and coke?” 

“What kind of bourbon?”

“American honey.”

“Oh, I’ve never tried that; I’ll give it a go.” Arthur chuckled as he leaned against the other side of the kitchen bench, watching Alfred take out two short glasses from the cupboard and a bottle of coke out of the fridge. 

“Yeah… I got this for my birthday ages ago, I haven’t had much of it yet,” Alfred explained as he poured a small amount of the golden alcohol into the glass. “I really like it and it’s nice with soda.” 

“Oh, so I take it that I’ll be getting a cab back home, hm?” Arthur chuckled as Alfred added the soda to the drink. 

“Yup. Don’t worry, I’ll pay the fare.” Alfred chuckled before lifting his glass off of the counter gesturing towards Arthur after placing his phone on the counter, he spoke before the Englishman could protest his statement about paying for the taxi fare. “Cheers, to finding Matt and… and…” 

“I believe you said it was; kicking ass,” Arthur chuckled with a wink, still giggling.  
Following their toast, Alfred and Arthur started drinking, and quickly time began to blur as the amount of glasses they’ve had increased. With the more alcohol they consumed, Alfred and Arthur seemed to relax a bit more. Alfred could feel his cheeks burning as he stared down at Arthur, watching his perfect form bend as he leant on the kitchen counter. 

Later in the night, Arthur looked at Alfred with a determined look on his face, his cheek burning as he caught Arthur with his intense stare. “Earlier…” 

Clumsily and drunkenly Alfred leaned forward across the bench, bringing his face closer to Arthurs, “Yeah…” 

Before speaking, Arthur lifted his hand and pointed his index finger at Alfred, almost accusatory in nature, “Earlier when you told me about your girlfriend, how you said that there were things about you she didn’t agree with… Was that your way of letting me know that you’re gay?” 

“Oh my god, YOU GOT IT!!” Alfred cried, almost bouncing from the excitement. “Yes!! Well, I’m technically bisexual, but STILL!”  
Arthur chuckled as Alfred leaned across the counter, leaning into Arthur, his cheeks burning from the alcohol and his own nerves. His entire body began to burn, and the American was sure that he was sweating from the overwhelming heat underneath his clothes, “And how would you feel… if I told you…” 

“Mmm…” Arthur murmured, his eyes narrowing as his smile widened giving Alfred all of the encouragement he needed to keep going. This was so odd for Alfred, Arthur had never acted like this before, and perhaps he must be so relaxed: his cold exterior has melted away. 

“If I had these feelings about you…?” Alfred admitted, his grin widening, showing off his perfect set of teeth, praying to God that Arthur was going to take his admission nicely. 

Arthur was silent as he leant away, but he was still smiling at Alfred. Alfred could tell that Arthur was considering it, and it looked positive, “you’re in luck, Agent Jones~” 

“Oh really?” Alfred asked, becoming giddy as he fell into Arthur’s stare, instantly hooked by their intense green colour. 

“I happen to have a particular ‘preference’ as well,” Arthur explained. 

“Gay?” Alfred asked. 

“Very.” 

“YES!” Alfred cried, his head falling into his hands as he began to laugh, extremely relieved: HE HAS A CHANCE, A REALLY BIG CHANCE. Alfred looked up at Arthur, to see Arthur already staring at him… “I… Was wondering…. Whether…” 

Buzzzzz, Buzzzzzz, Buzzzzzzzz. 

Alfred cut himself off as he and Arthur looked at Alfred’s phone as it vibrated on the kitchen counter, with the screen flashing ‘LUDWIG BEILSCHMIDT (WORK)’.

“You should pick that up!” Arthur pointed out before Alfred reached for tapped on the phone to answer the call, before putting it on speaker. 

“Hi Luddy~” Alfred chirped, leaning down to speak directly into the phone, “what’s up dude?” 

“Are you drunk?” Ludwig asked. 

“Maybe~” Arthur pointed out as he leaned towards the phone. 

“Arthur? Is that you? Never mind, I need you both to come back, immediately!” Ludwig explained, sounding as though he was trying to control his volume. 

“Whoa, whoa, why?” Alfred asked, his tone changing dramatically as he internally tried to fight off the wooziness and giddiness in order to concentrate on what was happening in front of him. Even Arthur had gone quiet as the atmosphere between then darkened dramatically. “What’s going on?” 

“We need you to come and confirm, and we need to plan what we’re going to do tomorrow. Stop drinking, have something to eat and only have water, I need you both here as soon as possible.” Ludwig explained before sighing, “We’ve spotted Matthew."


	9. Chapter 9

Arthur watched the screen of the laptop intensely, waiting for what it was that Feliciano saw which called for Alfred and Arthur being called back to the office. 

Despite being security footage from a subway system, the footage was rendered rather impressively; Arthur could semi-clearly see the details of people’s faces as they walked through the subway and underneath the security camera. 

“Any second now…” Feliciano murmured, leaning in between where Alfred and Arthur sat, joining the pair in staring at the monitor, waiting for the big event to happen.   
Suddenly, Feliciano stamped his finger on the pause button on the laptop, pausing the video, before pointing to a figure near the white tiled wall of the subway. The figure was wearing a black hood, and standing around a small group of people, whom had separated long enough to allow the figure to look up at the camera for a second, but that second was enough for Feliciano to spot him.   
Alfred gasped as Feliciano looked to him for approval, “Am I correct?” 

“That’s him!!” Alfred cried, wrapping his arm around Feliciano, obviously still feeling the impact from their earlier drinking session, “Oh my god, I’m gonna cry; that’s him! That’s Matt!!” 

Arthur looked back at the screen and looked at Matthews face, the Canadian was staring directly at the camera. His face was clear enough to show his eyes as he stared widely at the camera… with eyes that were begging for help. 

“Alright, so we are safe in assuming that Ivan’s people were attempting to cover him from the camera,” Ludwig pointed out. 

“He knew that we’d be looking at the cameras…” Arthur added, leaving forward onto the table to get a better look at Matthew. “He knew exactly where the cameras were and took his opportunity.” 

“It’s actually a miracle I spotted him, because he only stares at the camera for exactly two seconds before lowering his head,” Feliciano explained. “He took his opportunity to tell us where he is, and risked getting caught trying to communicate. It must have been a huge risk on his part…” 

“Brave boy…” Arthur murmured, “Which station is this, we need to go as soon as possible, what if this is where the threat-video was filmed?” 

“We have obtained permission from the station, however, they can’t let us in until five-am tomorrow morning,” Ludwig explained, “Now that we’ve confirmed it, you two better go to bed, I want you both to be your best tomorrow morning.” 

“I’ll drop you back to your apartment, Arthur,” Feliciano pointed out, cheerfully smiling at the Englishman. 

“And I, Alfred,” Ludwig added as he took his coat off of the desk behind the laptop, “If you’d like, we should go now, you need to sleep.” 

“I agree,” Feliciano agreed as he patted Arthur on the shoulder, encouraging him to rise from his seat. Arthur wobbled on his feet as his head spun from the sudden change in positon, perhaps he’s not as sobered-up as he first thought, but at least he was better than Alfred, who needed help walking out of the building. 

“Hey Arthur…” Alfred whispered as he ran from Ludwig and into Arthur, wrapping his arm around the Englishman. “I wanna go out with you again—but, we should make it a proper date. What do you think?” Arthur stopped walking as Ludwig and Feliciano made their ways to their cars, which were parked next to each other in the company car-park. 

Arthur smiled, feeling his heart race like it did before. Alfred was indeed a handsome man, perhaps one of the most handsome Arthur had ever seen… He loved the way he smiled at him, with the eyes of a begging puppy; he instantly melted Arthur’s heart and made him feel weak at his knees. The fact that Alfred feels this mutual attraction towards him is a miracle…   
Alfred had managed to make Arthur forget about his pain, even if it was for just one night… 

“I’d like that,” Arthur admitted, his cheeks burning a deep pinkie hue.   
Alfred smiled widely, before leaning in slightly to Arthur, before he suddenly paused… For a moment, he stared deeply into Arthur’s eyes, as though mentally preparing himself for a kiss. Arthur felt his heart race as he stared back at Alfred, wondering whether the American would be the one brave enough to take that extra step forward… 

“ALFRED!” Ludwig barked from his car, and instantly, Alfred pushed himself off of Arthur, stepping back slowly as he maintained his stare with Arthur, wishing he had done it when he had the chance. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow~” Alfred chirped as he flashed a small wink towards Arthur, before turning around and running to Ludwig’s car, whilst Arthur simply walked to Feliciano as he fumbled through his messenger bag for his car keys. 

\------ 

Arthur’s eyes snapped open as he took in a deep breath, squinting as his eyes struggled to adjust to the light that beamed down from the ceiling. 

And then he realised… He couldn’t move. He was lying on the cold and dirty ground as the dust settled around him, and Arthur felt an overwhelming sense of dread creep up behind him like a tiger stalking prey… 

Arthur knew what this was, and despite being through it so many times, it still made him freeze with fear.   
He could feel the sharp piece of concrete slide into his stomach, he could feel it cutting through his skin all over again, and the warm sensation of his blood pool around is torso… His hands became numb and he couldn’t feel his legs anymore. It felt as though his body was an empty vessel, only susceptible to the pain of being crushed under sharp rubble. 

Arthur tried to cry out for help, feeling the panic begging to settle in. He opened his mouth and screamed, only for no noise to come out. Helpless and lost, his eyes scanned around the room, desperate to see what was around him, but the inability to move his head did not offer him any hope. 

“No… NO!!” Arthur cried, feeling the tears run down his cheeks, but once again, no noise came through his lips. He was a sitting duck, but aware of the danger he was in, he was vulnerable and alone, feeling his life slowly slide away from him like water in the palms of his hands. “Please…. Not again… Just let me die…” 

“Do you really think that I’d ever let you go…” That familiar voice chuckled, echoing through the room.   
Arthur closed his eyes tightly, before opening them again, letting even more tears run across the apples of his cheeks, his lips quivered as tried to move again, only to pathetically fail. “Do you really think that I’d ever set you free?” 

Arthur could feel him standing just out of view…. The Frenchman’s tall shadow blanketed Arthur’s entire body. Arthur wanted to move, he wanted to claw Francis’ eyes out like a frenzied animal… but he was trapped, his body nearly cut in half by the concrete that squashed his bottom half. 

“I’m going to kill you, Arthur, no matter how far I have to go to chase you, you are mine…” That voice growled, making Arthur want to quiver in fear, but he still couldn’t move. 

Suddenly, the figure was hovering over Arthur’s face, it was no longer the Frenchman, but a tall monster manifested from the darkest shadows, a monster from the deepest sector of Arthur’s fears. It screamed in his face and Arthur finally screamed, but once again, no noise escaped him. 

“PLEASE STOP!! STOP!! JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!!!” Arthur screamed, his nightmare still not allowing him the privilege of speech, he couldn’t even close his eyes anymore as the monster screamed in his face. 

“LEAVE HIM ALONE!!!” A new voice screamed as a figure jumped over where Arthur laid, flawlessly pushing the monster back. “I’M NOT GONNA LET YOU HURT HIM!!” 

“Alfred…” Arthur whispered, his eyes widening with surprise, as he was the last person Arthur expected to see here. How did Alfred find him? 

Alfred was crying Arthur’s name as he fought away the monster, but then, Francis’ dark chuckle echoed through the room, before the sound of a gunshot sent the entire room into silence… And Arthur knew immediately what had happened.   
Without control, Arthur’s head fell to the side, allowing him to see Alfred on his knees, clutching his bloodstained stomach. Francis was the one holding the gun, standing before Alfred, smiling down at the American like he had just won a game. Arthur’s eyes widened as he watched Francis point the gun to Alfred’s temple. 

“NO! NO, PLEASE—“   
Alfred was interrupted by a loud gunshot, and the American fell onto his back. 

Arthur froze as Alfred’s head tilted back, revealing the death in his eyes and the bullet-hole in his temple. Blood dripped from the wound and began to stain his golden hair, and his face was still frozen on the look of fear… 

Arthur tried again to scream, however, the noise finally came out. “ALFRED!! ALFRED, NO!! ALFRED!! AAAHHHHHHH!!!!!” Arthur roared as his entire body shook, the pain skyrocketing throughout his entire body, as though his body had finally come to life. “FUCK!!! PLEASE DON’T DO THIS!!! DON’T LEAVE ME!! ALFRED!!! ALFRED WAKE UP!! FUCKING WAKE UP!!! NO!!” 

Arthur trembled as he felt Francis walking towards him, with emotionless eyes, Francis looked down at Arthur…   
The last thing Arthur saw was the Frenchman’s sombre smile, before lifting the gun before Arthur’s head. 

Suddenly, Arthur screamed loudly as he shot upward, opening his eyes only to find himself surrounded by soft blankets in a room of darkness, with the only light coming from the moonlight that seeped in through a gap in the curtains. 

Arthur trembled as his mind slowly rationalised his surroundings, terrified of the possibility of Francis still being in the room, hunting him… Sobbing, Arthur pushed himself against the head of the bed, curling into a ball as he placed his pillows around him, building a pathetic fortress around him and the outside world. 

Despite coming to the conclusion that it was only a nightmare, Arthur still sobbed so hard, his body trembled from the force of his crying. 

Alfred… Alfred… would be hurt because of him… Alfred will die because of him, that’s what the nightmare was telling him. Arthur made the mistake of getting close to him… And Alfred was going to be hurt because of him, Arthur could feel it. Arthur’s pain was never going to end, and he was a fool for thinking that he could let down his guard for someone else. 

Arthur has to protect Alfred… He has to keep him safe. 

Unstable, Arthur scratched his arms, trying to cope with the anxiety and the fear that had been released from within him, he didn’t know how else to cope with it… He couldn’t control himself as he became lost in the thoughts of Alfred dying, seeing the scene play out before him again and again and again, as though the demons in his mind were cementing this logic into Arthur’s mind. 

These demons were not going to let Arthur go… Nor let anyone close enough to save him. 

Poisonous thoughts played through Arthur’s mind, and left their mark.   
He can’t let Alfred like him, he can’t allow Alfred to get into that position…   
The image of Alfred’s smile was instantly replaced with the one that showed death in his eyes with a bullet in his brain…   
It will be all Arthur’s fault… 

Arthur is nothing but bad luck, Alfred will die because of him, and there will be nothing Arthur can do to save him… unless… Unless if Alfred doesn’t get close enough to try… 

Arthur sobbed; mentally begging the demons in his mind to let him go, let him breathe, let him be with Alfred. 

NO!!!  
Alfred will die if Arthur lets him!!  
But... Alfred makes Arthur happy… He doesn’t want to hurt him…   
The demons snapped at Arthur for thinking so freely, and immediately put the Englishman back in his place. How DARE he think of an alternative!!   
‘SO!? You selfish prat, he will die protecting you, and you are a risk, do you really want him to die!?’

Finally… Arthur gave up… he was so tired and dizzy from all of the crying and lack of sleep, he could no longer think for himself, and let the demons take over, he let the demons chose what he thought. And the conclusion was, he can’t allow Alfred to get emotionally close to him, that’s the best thing to do… 

\----- 

The pain began as soon as the sun rose, Alfred was waiting for Arthur outside of the apartment building where Arthur was staying. Arthur could see the Americans bright smile from the top of the staircase, and it instantly broke Arthur’s heart… 

The car ride wasn’t as painful as Arthur anticipated, Alfred hadn’t brought up his idea of them dating…   
Despite how hard Arthur wanted to, he knew that saying yes would only cause pain for the both of them, the imagine of Alfred being shot dead in front of his face chilled Arthur to the core… As though his demons were whipping him back into shape. 

Instead of driving to the CIA building, Alfred drove to the train station where Feliciano saw Matthew looking at the security camera, they were going to search through the storage rooms throughout the subway, and try to find the one where Ivan filmed his video. 

By the time Alfred and Arthur caught up with the group of investigators; they had been through three rooms already, all of which came up with nothing.   
They were paired with a Spanish forensic investigator named Antonio, who seemed to already know Alfred well. 

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you, what have you been up to?” Antonio asked, bending down before a doorknob, dusting it for fingerprints. 

“Nothing much, man. I haven’t done much since Matt went missing,” Alfred admitted, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. 

“Of course,” Antonio agreed, “He’s your best friend, and it’d be odd if you were being normal during this time.” 

“Yeah…” Alfred murmured, “But everything will be back to normal as soon as we find him,” Alfred glanced down at Arthur, whom stood firmly with his arms around his chest, “Maybe it’d be better than before.”

After Antonio dusted the doorhandle for fingerprints, the Spaniard unlocked the door to the storeroom and let Alfred and Arthur in. However, Alfred barely made it through the door before freezing with shock at the sight… 

Unstable, Russian words and unintelligible and childish drawings stained the walls with white chalk and a chair stood against the back wall, right in the position that Matthew would have been in, sitting under the weak light that hung from the ceiling. 

“Oh my God…” Alfred whimpered as his shoulders buckled and he took a step back, as though struggling to hold himself up on his own two feet, his voice quivering. “Ahh…”

“Alfred, are you ok?” Arthur asked. 

“I’m fine,” Alfred replied firmly. 

“Alright, well, we will need to search the room, if you are right: then Matthew has left a clue,” Arthur explained as he walked past Arthur. “Don’t worry, Alfred. We’re going to find him.”

Antonio patted Alfred on the shoulder supportively, “Arthur, let me dust the chair for prints, do you mind taking phots of the walls?”  
Arthur nodded as he took photos of the wall, being sure to cover every bit of space on the wall, and make the writing at clear as possible. 

Arthur couldn’t help but glance at Alfred every now and then as he assisted Antonio in collecting evidence. He couldn’t help but worry… 

“Matthew got hit right?” Antonio asked, before waving his hand above the ground, “bloodstains…” 

“Shit…” Alfred gasped, turning his back to the Spaniard. 

“Alfred, I’m sorry!” Antonio exclaimed, “there isn’t much, it justifies the footage, it’s proof that he was here!” 

“I don’t care!” Alfred grumbled, “I’ll kill that Russian!!” 

“Arthur, do you mind sitting in the chair, we’re going to have to compare,” Antonio explained as he took the camera from Arthur. 

Arthur could feel Alfred’s stare on his back as he sat down on the chair like Matthew did. Arthur glanced at Alfred to see the pain in his face, like he was imaging Ivan grabbing Arthur by the hair before smacking him in the face. 

Arthur put his hands behind his back, similar to how Matthew did, and felt the stone wall scrape against the back of his fingers.   
As Antonio took photos of Arthur in the chair, Arthur watched Alfred struggle to remain still, the American looked as though he was about to have an anxiety attack. 

“Alfred…” Arthur murmured as he brought his hands out from behind his back, however, before he could continue to ask Alfred if he wanted some air, Arthur noticed a white substance on the tips of his fingers. “Wait.” 

Arthur jumped out of his chair before turning it around and pulling it away from the wall, revealing a white inscription that contrasted against the dark wall. 

“Matt….” Alfred gasped as Antonio took a photo of the inscription, with a genuine smile on his face.  
To his relief, Alfred was right; Matthew had left behind a clue!! Matthew was still thinking, despite what horrors he was going through.   
And it was in the form of four letters. 

M.A.H.S

“Mahs?” Antonio frowned. 

“A code, each letter means something,” Arthur frowned, “Matthew wants us to find him, and we can find him in whatever this means.”

Alfred couldn’t contain his smile as he whispered under his breath, “We’re coming, Matt…”


	10. Chapter 10

Arthur could feel Alfred’s eyes on him as he walked past the Americans desk on route to his office; Arthur had avoided speaking to him directly since arriving back from the train station. It pained him to treat Alfred so coldly, but if he knew the truth, Alfred would only be hurt more. The images from the nightmare still haunted Arthur well into the afternoon. He could still see Alfred lying on his back next to Arthur, dead. Those lifeless eyes staring into Arthur’s soul…   
Of course, if Alfred asked about his attitude, Arthur would say that he’s just stressed out as more and more reports were coming from Antonio, confirming that the blood on the floor belonged to Matthew, meaning that they had indeed found the room where the video was filmed. 

What was also bothering Arthur was the mystery of what M.A.H.S stood for, it was definitely a clue that Matthew planted at the scene, and so it was now up to them to figure out what it means.   
Arthur sat before his computer, staring at those letters that he had written on a document, he was supposed to be pondering ideas and brainstorming over what it could mean.   
But Arthur couldn’t come up with anything.

Is it a place? Or a name? Statement? Title? Does M.A.H.S have anything to do with Ivan? Is it something that Ivan has been connected to in the past?   
Arthur spent another two hours looking through documents relating to Ivan again, determined to figure out whether Ivan was linked to the code at all. But to his disappointment, he came back with nothing. He was right back where he started and feels as though he just wasted two hours for nothing. Matthew probably wrote those letters on the wall thinking, ‘as soon as they see this, they’ll get this instantly!’  
Fuck, now Arthur was feeling like an idiot. The weight of Matthew’s life was bearing heavily on his shoulders, all because he couldn’t figure out what a fucking code meant. He even resorted to typing MAHS into google to see if it could offer anything of use to him, sadly, it didn’t. However… He did notice that his search came up with a lot of results for high schools, what if the H.S in the code was referring to a high school? Although, the high schools that came up in the results of Arthur’s search were all over the world, from a school in California to one in Ireland.   
Perhaps if he consults with someone else over this theory… It might be a long shot, but at least it’s something. 

Arthur checked the photos of the inscription again; the writing was shaky and not completely opaque, and slightly smudged from Arthur’s fingers. What if he had unintentionally compromised evidence?   
More panicked thoughts plagued Arthur’s mind, to the point where Arthur contemplated pulling his hair out from the stress. However, he was pulled out of his state of deep thought when he heard the door to his office open. Arthur watched as Alfred peered in, smiling when he saw the Brit looking at him. 

“Hey, you haven’t been out of your office for five hours, is everything ok in here?” Alfred asked, “Do you need anything…?”   
Arthur sighed as he ran his hands down his face, thinking about how he had been treating Alfred recently and how it was eating him up inside…. He didn’t want to do this to him, but at the same time, it would be better for Alfred in the end… 

And so, Arthur sighed, “I’m fine.”

Alfred frowned as he walked into Arthur’s office, closing the door behind him, “What’s all that stuff on your desk?”

“Ivan’s file, I’m trying to figure out whether Matthews’s code has anything to do with Ivan’s past,” Arthur explained. 

“And what did you come up with?”

Arthur frowned, “Nothing much, I’m starting to think that it’s not related to Ivan at all.” Arthur crossed his arms over his chest and avoided eye contact with Alfred as the American came closer to Arthur’s desk. “However, I do have an idea, what if the HS in the code stands for High School?” 

“Like Ivan could be hiding Matt in a high school?” Alfred asked, pondering the idea, “It could be a possibility, actually, if we can find a closed or secluded school, maybe.” 

“I don’t know, my report is still in the early stages,” Arthur explained, Alfred sighed as he shoved his hands into his pants pockets. It was obvious that Arthur’s attitude since last night has been plaguing the Americans thoughts, but this was work, surely he wouldn’t bring up their relationship here. “What have you been up to?” 

“I got off of the phone with a translator, they’re struggling with the inscriptions on the wall, apparently some of it isn’t even in Russian,” Alfred explained, “They’ll be sending an analysis within the next 24 hours. I can’t stand this, but I’m so happy that we’re just a little bit closer to finding Matt. Heh, first he looked up at the security camera, and now he leaves behind a code: he’s helping us even when he’s not here…” 

“He knows what we would be looking for,” Arthur pointed out. 

“Hey…” Alfred murmured, in a voice concerned enough to send a wave of dread throughout Arthur’s body, internally, Arthur prayed that he wasn’t going to question his off behaviour, “You feeling Ok? I understand that you’ve got a lot on your plate right now. But I want you to know that you can talk to me about anything.” 

“I understand,” Arthur murmured, not being able to resist looking up at the American, to see his warming blue eyes already looking down at him from the other side of the desk. His eyes tore Arthur apart inside, he could see that his actions were already impacting Alfred’s feelings.   
He could only pray that Alfred loses interest in him soon. He’d probably be thankful for it in the end… He’d see Arthur for the mess that he is, and be grateful that he didn’t pursue him further. Arthur felt like a jerk, a massive jerk, and it only made him feel worse. “It’s nothing I can’t handle.”   
Arthur could see Alfred’s arms tense, like Arthur had just slapped him. Obviously Alfred expected Arthur to take up his offer. 

“What's wrong?”

“I’m just stressed, I’m fine.” Arthur replied, his cold aura not shifting in the slightest. 

“Your eyes look like you’re begging for help.” Alfred pointed out. 

“And I said, I understand that I can come to you if I want it,” Arthur explained coldly. Alfred took a deep breath as he broadened his shoulders, Arthur could feel Alfred’s anxiety, he could imagine Alfred asking himself questions like; did I do something wrong? Is he mad at me? Why? And sadly, Alfred didn’t have the courage to ask Arthur these things…   
It pained Arthur to think of Alfred asking himself such questions, because it was not Alfred’s fault at all, but Arthurs.   
Arthur wanted nothing more than to tell Alfred that none of this is his fault, Arthur is just… scared. The nightmare scared him away from pursuing a positive relationship.   
Arthur quickly snapped out of his reflective state, not wanting to worsen the pain for himself, as the mental image of dead Alfred returned to the front of his mind, as though the demons were reminding Arthur of what would happen if he let anyone too close… 

“F-fine…” Alfred murmured. 

“ARTHUR, ALFRED!” Feliciano cried as he pushed open the door to Arthur’s office, starling the American and the Englishman, Feliciano looked as though he had just ran a marathon, he supported his body by holding himself up by the door handle, struggling to catch his breath before looking up at Alfred and Arthur, stress plaguing his round hazel eyes, “Come right away! A body has been identified as one of Braginski’s men!”

“WHAT!?” Alfred snapped.

“We’re meeting in Ludwig’s office, he’ll explain everything!” Feliciano explained as he led Alfred and Arthur across the office, “I ran all the way up here from the forensics lab, Antonio found a match for fingerprints found at the scene, and fingerprints of a body that was found two weeks ago!” 

“Oh my God…” Arthur shuddered, horrified by the idea, “Braginski… He’s killed more of his company, hasn’t he? He’s done this before.” 

“Well, yes, it does look like Braginski did it…” Feliciano admitted as he opened the door to Ludwig’s office, were the German was standing by his printer, collecting recently printed pieces of paper. “I just hope that Matthew isn’t hurt…” 

The four agents gathered around the small table in Ludwig’s office, where papers were spread out, revealing photos of a pale dead body and as well as more reports.   
“Toris Laurinaitis.” Ludwig began, pointing to a photo of a young man. His body had become deathly pale, which contrasted with the neck-length straight dark brown hair. “He was found two weeks ago by a homeless woman, autopsy confirmed that a gunshot to the back was what killed him. His wallet and any identification were missing, which at first led police to believe it was a robbery. A background check revealed that he is a Lithuanian native, with a rather mild criminal record, which would be odd for someone working with Ivan Braginski. No one knew that our current case and this murder were linked until his fingerprints showed up at our crime scene.” 

“In his past, Ivan has killed members of his groups, usually out of fear of them conspiring against him,” Arthur pointed out. 

“How big are Ivan’s groups, usually?” Ludwig asked. 

“Very small, I wouldn’t be shocked if Toris was one of very little people. Maybe even the only, depending on Ivan’s mental state,” Arthur explained, “This does not reflect well on Ivan’s mental state. Toris would have done something to make Ivan distrust him, unless if the man has become more paranoid than ever before. It could have something to do with Matthew.” 

“He better not hurt him…” Alfred grumbled, his hands tightening into fists, “Where was the body found?” 

“Just outside of Mc Arthur,” Ludwig replied. 

“Mc Arthur…” Arthur murmured, the gears in his mind swinging into full motion. Arthur’s eyes widened as he glanced at Alfred, seeing that he had the same idea. 

“Hang on, Matthew has mentioned Mc Arthur before…” Alfred pointed out, “Shit… He’s been to Mc Arthur… I swear…” 

“YES!” Feliciano chirped, “He went to school there during his reformation program. Sadly, the school closed down four years ago; low funding ran it into the ground…” 

And slowly, the reality began to dawn upon every agent in the room, until Arthur finally cried, “Mc Arthur High School!! M.A.H.S!!” 

“OH GOD!!” Ludwig gasped. 

“It makes sense!!” Alfred added, “We have to check it out! Matt could be there!” 

“Let me look it up!” Feliciano exclaimed as he ran around to Ludwig desk and clicked on the computer mouse, intent on waking the computer monitor from sleep. “God! How did I not realise it sooner!? I was the one who ENROLLED Matthew there! Damn! Damn! Damn!”

“Don’t be hard on yourself,” Ludwig murmured.

Feliciano suddenly gasped loudly, and brought his hands to his mouth in shock, whimpering, “No…”   
Ludwig instantly ran around the desk to join Feliciano at the monitor, where he too froze with shock. 

“What’s going on?” Arthur asked as he and Alfred walked around the desk to join the two agents on the other side, only to be confronted with an unusual looking login screen.   
The screens background was a deep red colour where the icon of a black bear with white eyes and a white smile, in timed movement, the bears headed tilted from one side to the other as it sat above the login box, as though teasing the group of agents. 

“It’s Matthew…” Ludwig groaned. 

“Matt did this?!” Alfred gasped. 

“He’s done it again…” Feliciano explained as he tried to type into the login bar, but as soon as he clicked enter to see if the password would allow him to unlock the computer, the colours inverted and the screen shook as the computer rejected Feliciano’s password. “Knowing Ivan, he’s made sure to fix the mistakes that Matthew made the first time.” 

“What has he done exactly?” Arthur asked. 

“He has locked us out of the system,” Feliciano explained. “He now has access to everything on our systems including files and private information of every agent affiliated with the CIA. He’s essentially kicked us out of the system and locked the door behind us.” 

“Goddammit…” Ludwig growled, “He’s probably done this to every computer that uses the CIA portal, just like last time.” 

“And it’s probably better this time. With Ivan helping him…” Feliciano shuddered. 

“He’s forced Matt to do this!!” Alfred growled, “Matt would have never agreed to do this!” 

“It’s going to take forever to fix this!!” Feliciano hissed. 

“But we only found Matthew last time because he made a mistake, Braginski is involved now, and he does not make mistakes,” Ludwig sighed. “And if history is repeating itself, I doubt that bomb materials won’t be involved… We need to get to that school, immediately.”


	11. Chapter 11

“Now, the plan is to grab Matthew and get out of there,” Arthur explained as he and Alfred dashed through the carpark, determined to get to Alfred’s car, they had their weapons and the address of McArthur High School, nothing is holding them back now, “And arrest Ivan Braginski if the opportunity presents itself!”

“Arrest him?! Are you kidding me?!” Alfred growled as he pulled open the door to his car so forcefully, Arthur was scared that Alfred was going to pull it off of the hinges, “Who the hell are you?! Of course I’m gonna shoot him at the first chance I get, I don’t care!”

“Alfred, _calm,”_ Arthur ordered sternly as Alfred sped out of the buildings car park, hardly watching for oncoming traffic as he turned onto the road.

“I can’t, this is the big break we needed!” Alfred replied, his hands tightening around the steering wheel, “It’s my fault that he was taken, so I’m going to get him back and make it up to him!”

Alfred didn’t want to be the person who reminds Alfred that this is simply a lead, and they don’t know whether they have truly solved the mystery to Matthew’s whereabouts, for all they know: the school could be just abandoned and Matthew is somewhere else entirely. But, Alfred seems stressed enough; Arthur didn’t want to crush his hope so suddenly, like he already did with their relationship… At least he was distracted now.

Arthur tried to resist the temptation to drag himself into the dark thoughts about what he has done. He has seen enough mental images of Alfred’s corpse enough to understand: Alfred is only going to be in danger, and Arthur is not worth his effort… He just hopes that Alfred realises it soon…

Arthur would occasionally glance at Alfred as he drove, and could only imagine the thoughts that have been racing through Alfred’s head today. His hands tightened so hard around the steering wheel, his knuckled became white and his frown did not alter in the slightest for minutes at a time, Arthur became more and more concerned after each time he looked at him.

Before Arthur knew it, Alfred was driving them down a highway, swerving through different lanes to pass as many people as possible.

“Alfred, you’re speeding,” Arthur exclaimed, “being pulled over isn’t going to help our situation.”

“Fine, look in the glovebox,” Alfred pointed out. Arthur followed Alfred’s instructions and opened the glovebox in front of his lap, inside he saw a single police light with a cord. “Plug it in and stick the light on the roof.”

“Are you sure this will work?” Arthur asked as he took the light out of the glovebox, inspecting the red plastic globe, noting the suction cups underneath the black base.

“They’ll know I’m on duty, the cops know about my car already,” Alfred pointed out.

The tone in Alfred’s voice worried Arthur; he had never heard the American sound so angry before… His voice deepened and his eyes narrowed as he focussed on the road, staring at the road like how he was staring at the screen while looking through footage.

“Just don’t crash,” Arthur murmured as he rolled down the window before he plugged in the end to the USB port of the audio system. Instantly the bright light started flashing red, Arthur quickly reached outside of the car and stuck the light onto the roof of the car.

“I won’t crash,” Alfred grumbled, before whispering under his breath, _“Why do you care?”_  

“Alfred, just please calm down,” Arthur requested, using a softer voice, hoping that it would have more effect than if he asked sternly. However, in response to Alfred’s harsh question, Arthur responded in a harsher tone, not wanting Alfred’s thoughts to become preoccupied with him; “You’re starting to be reckless, and I should point out that we are only investigating this as a _lead,_ we do not know for certain whether if this is where Matthew really is.”

The change in Arthur’s voice seemed to have its desired effect, as Alfred glanced over at Arthur with wide eyes, like only then he had just started reflecting and realised how he was acting. “Right, sorry.” After a couple of moments of silence, Alfred finally cracked, taking a deep breath before he spoke, “What’s with you, by the way? We were fine last night and now you’ve been giving me the cold shoulder all day. Did I do something?”

 _SHIT,_ Arthur thought as his entire body went numb, except for his raging heart-beat, which only accelerated after Alfred’s question. Arthur sighed, trying to think of the best response he could, he does not want to Alfred to become involved in any of his mental problems. He knows the American well enough to know that if he caught wind of something being wrong with Arthur, he will not leave him alone. Arthur does want to date Alfred, he really does. But when he thinks of the possibility of it, the demons in Arthurs mind remind him of why it can’t happen. Allistor is gone because of Arthur, and Alfred will meet the same fate, it’s bound to happen and there’s nothing that Arthur can do to prevent it, rather than protect Alfred. He’s a mess, and becoming involved with something else is a recipe for disaster. He just loathes the idea of explaining that to Alfred. “I’m just tired. And I become cold while stressed. Apologies.”

“But that doesn’t really explain much, are we still—“

“We will sort ourselves out later, but for now we should focus; what tools do we have with us?” Arthur asked, silently dreading the idea of having to talk about it later... He hated the idea of admitting his weakness to Alfred, or even facing the facts of what he’s going to do to him. How cowardly… How pathetic… Alfred did not answer Arthur’s question, but his silence said everything, and he was hit with another wave of guilt.

As McArthur High School came closer into the view of the two agents, the state of the school building became clearer, the grass had not been cut in what looked like years, and the large front doors were chained shut. The building was in such a state of disarray, it looked as though the foundations of the building could crumble at any second. Arthur had to admit, it would be a good place to hide-out.

Alfred parked the car a couple of blocks away from the building, a safe enough distance to avoid suspicion. Just like the building, the streets around it were also dead, only a few pedestrians passed the agents as they walked towards the school, keeping their guns out of sight. As they jumped over the waist-high wired fence, they reverted to a silent-mode. Using the long grass as cover, they used hand signals and glares to further communicate as they watched the building, looking for any signs of inhabitants, as well as signs of any entry-point. Arthur quickly spotted a window with missing glass, and it was just high enough for them to climb through.

After climbing in through the window, Alfred and Arthur found themselves in an abandoned classroom, the ground was covered in dust and piles of debris and broken desks formed a pile in the centre of the room.

“If anything, we should expect to encounter squatters or homeless,” Arthur whispered as he and Alfred slowly left the classroom. Alfred did not reply, but grimaced, obviously fighting back the urge to point out to Arthur that there is a chance that this place could offer clues to where Matthew is.

Immediately; Arthur and Alfred noticed a large collection of cords and electrical wiring, all leading in one direction. They looked at each other and nodded, silently agreeing to follow the cords to see where they lead.

The cords led them up a staircase and past many sets of lockers, all of which were in a shocking state, the floor was covered in building debris, dirt and weeds as well as other rubbish like wrappers and cigarette butts. Graffiti was sprayed all over the walls and lockers, ranging from illegible tags, to statements that made the agents question the artist’s mental state. However, as the agents followed the cords, they began to notice more and more cords branching out from different rooms, which all led to the same room.

The door to the room could be the only room in the entire school where the door was shut. Alfred and Arthur looked to each other as they dropped to the floor and moved towards the room where the cords were leading to, holding their handguns at the ready. The agents pressed their backs against the wall in front of the wooden door, listening for any noise coming from the classroom; and widened their eyes when they heard voices coming from the other side of the door. Arthur and Alfred stated into each other’s eyes, trying to decide their next movement, naturally Alfred opted to just charge into the room with their guns at the ready, however Arthur wanted to stay put and keep listening, just in case. After about a minute of miming bickering they eventually agreed to storm the room, this seemed too convenient to be a group of squatters: why would they have so many cables?

It was Alfred who took charge and kicked open the door and marched into the classroom with his gun at the ready, growling, “CIA! PUT YOUR HANDS UP!”

Alfred was not prepared for the sight before him; a sophisticated system of computers was set up in the centre of the room in a circle, with three figures in the centre of the system. The room was illuminated by the sunlight coming in through a large window. Another door was on the opposite side of the room.

Alfred immediately recognised Matthew as he sat in a desk chair, he looked tired, hungry and emotionally and physically exhausted, he was a lesser form of his usual self, and the sight disgusted Alfred to the core. The man behind Matthew loomed over his Canadian hostage, wearing a black coat and white scarf which was dirtied by its years of use, it was Ivan. Alfred couldn’t believe it.

The third man…. However…

Alfred recognised him from the dozens of pictures he had seen, and even in person he was as intimidating as the pictures and articles depicted him. But it was who he was that scared Alfred the most, because of his effect on Arthur…

Alfred glanced at Arthur to see that the Englishman had seen him and recognised him. Arthur was trembling and staring in shocked disbelief, his PTSD had to be playing some cruel trick on him. Arthur couldn’t believe the sight in front of him, those piercing icy blue eyes, the soft blonde hair that bordered his face, that sly and sickening smile that shook Arthur to the core… it was too much, too real… It was him. _Francis._ Arthur was frozen on the spot, unable to move other than the uncontrollable trembling of his hands and the buckling of his knees. It was like every nightmare was becoming reality. Arthur felt as though he was about to faint when Francis moved towards Matthew, before kneeling down next to his hostage, before planting a soft kiss on the Canadians head and whispering something, obviously trying to not show his surprise by the Agents appearance. The whole world disappeared around Arthur, and Francis was the only thing he could focus on.

Alfred braced himself, knowing that now he was going to have to protect Arthur, he was going into a state of shock.

“Agent King!!” Francis chirped, and Arthur trembled, his gun falling out of his grasp and to the dirty carpet, “It’s been too long! I was starting to miss you~”

“You know him?” Ivan asked as Alfred took a step closer to Arthur, more than ready to jump in front of him in case if something went wrong. Despite how coldly Arthur has been treating him, Alfred still was ready to protect him; all of his years of infatuation were not going to be deterred by some bad attitude.

 _“Arthur…”_ Matthew gasped, like he couldn’t believe that the British agent was here, _“Oh my god. Alfred—“_

“He’s an old friend of mine,” Francis chuckled, staring at Arthur; knowing what kind of impact that the Frenchman was having on him, he could see Arthur’s gun that had fallen to the floor. “Did you miss me, Arthur?” Francis’ arm slid around Matthew’s shoulder, resting calmly on Matthew’s shoulder. “It’s about time you met my son.”

“Son…?” Alfred gasped.

“Isn’t the resemblance amazing…?” Francis asked as he rubbed Matthew’s blonde hair, showing how similar the father and son looked, and it could not be denied, “I’d like you to meet Mathieu Bonnefoy.”

“Matt…” Alfred whimpered.

“Alfred! I’m sorry; you have to get out of here!!” Matthew hissed, trembling as he spoke; it looked like he was in a similar state of mind to Arthur, “I’m sorry for doing it again! I should have told you about me! I’m so sorry!!”

“It’s ok, Matt,” Alfred murmured as he took a step forward, reminding the trio of his weapon, “Now, put your hands up and no one has to get hurt!”

Arthur still felt numb inside as he watched Francis smile at him, like he was proud of the mess he had created. He knew exactly what he had done to Arthur and how it was going to impact the Englishman for the rest of his life. But… the way Francis would look at Matthew, he looked at the young Canadian with the love and affection that Arthur didn’t know he was capable of, Matthew truly is the Frenchman’s son.

And so, Arthur saw it fit that Matthew knows what his father is capable of, _“Murderer…”_ Arthur growled; staring directly at Francis, however, Arthur still saw Matthews’s eyes widen with shock as he looked to Francis, who stared at Arthur intensely, as though trying to scare him off with his eyes. _“I will make you pay for what you did to Allistor…”_

“Papa…” Matthew gasped, his voice trembling with fear, occasionally glancing back at Alfred, as though petrified, now that he knows what Francis is capable of. “What’s he talking about…? Murder…?”

Francis grimaced, “I’ve been busy… We have a lot to talk about, Mathieu,” Francis titled his head as he looked at Alfred, still speaking to Matthew, “who is this?”

“Alfred…” Matthew whispered, “He’s my best friend…”

“Yeah, and I’m not leaving with without Matt!!” Alfred growled, “Hand him over peacefully and no one will get hurt!!” 

Francis and Ivan glanced at each other, before they both lifted their own handguns.

“Do you really think I’ll give my boy up so easily?!” Francis hissed.

“PAPA, DON’T HURT HIM!!” Matthew snapped, jumping out of his seat to face his father, before Ivan grabbed his arm and held him back. But still, Matthew grabbed at Francis’ arm, “Please! He’s my best friend, don’t hurt him!!” Matthew looked to Alfred, “Alfred, get out of here! _PLEASE!_ ”

“I’m not leaving without you!” Alfred exclaimed. 

“Take him somewhere safe,” Francis murmured as he stepped in front of Ivan and Matthew, “I’ll take care of these two.”

 _“PAPA! DON’T!!”_ Matthew cried as Ivan began to pull him towards the back door, _“DON’T HURT HIM!! PLEASE!! HE’S MY BEST FRIEND!! LET HIM GO!  DON’T HURT HIM!! DON’T HURT THEM!! PLEASE!!”_ No matter how hard Matthew fought against Ivan’s grip, he was still being pulled away, like a child being taken to time-out. Ivan had to resort to physically lifting him off of the floor and carrying him away.

As soon as Matthew was out of earshot, Francis looked at Alfred, “Because you have been good to Mathieu; I will be good to you. If you leave now; I won’t hunt you down.” Francis chuckled as he looked at Arthur, “but you and I have unfinished business…”

“I’m not leaving!” Alfred snapped, “I’m not scared of you!”

Francis sighed, “Fine, I suppose I’ll have to make it quick then.” Francis fired the first shot, and Alfred and Arthur dropped to the floor, pulling the desks down to use as shields. “Mathieu is going to hate me for this: _but I won’t lose him again!”_

Alfred screamed as a bullet tore a hole through the wooden desk, barely missing his shoulder. Arthur felt his entire body freeze over with shock, he watched as Alfred looked over the table and attempted to shoot Francis back. Arthur felt as though he couldn’t move, like all of the monsters that he saw in his nightmares were holding him down. He couldn’t think properly, let alone realise what he needed to do. It was like all of his progress had gone down the drain just at the sight of Francis… However, as Francis ran around the desk and uncovered Alfred and Arthur’s shields, Arthur had come to his senses. He could no longer see Alfred: he saw Allistor. He could see him, begging for Arthur to do something, to help him, and Arthur could no longer hold it back. He may have lost Allistor, but he wasn’t willing to lose anyone else!!

Roaring, Arthur got off of his feet and ran at Francis, tackling him to the ground, knocking the gun out of the Frenchman’s hands. Pinning Francis down, Arthur screamed to Alfred, “You follow them!! I’ll take care of Francis!!”

Instantly, Arthur wrapped his hands around the Frenchman’s throat, _“I’ll make you suffer for you did to Allistor!”_

“Not if I get you first!” Francis hissed as he kneed Arthur in the stomach, before pushing him over. Quickly, Arthur and Francis scrambled for their guns. Arthur released the first shot, barely missing Francis and luckily for him; Francis missed him too in the panic. As they rose to their feet, Francis attempted to grab Arthur’s gun, however, Arthur wasn’t going to give into his grief, and pistol-whipped Francis in the head, knocking him back.

The two were in a standoff, neither of them moved as they stared at each other, guns in hand. However, Arthur could tell that Francis’ mind was somewhere else, he was thinking about getting back to Matthew; perhaps Arthur can use this to his advantage.

“Why are you working with Ivan?!” Arthur asked, watching as Francis began to step to the side; Arthur could only imagine that he was planning a quick exit. He was becoming worried over Matthew.

“Ivan and I have known each other for a long time,” Francis explained, “We both used to live in Canada, and he helped me escape after I was arrested. You may not believe it, Arthur, but I had a family. And after my arrest, I had always planned to return to Canada after a couple of years to return to my wife and child, _only to learn that my wife was dead and that the CIA had taken my son!”_  Francis took a deep breath before finally returning to Arthur’s question. “Ivan told me he had Mathieu with him, and he needed my help. So I came here, and so far: Ivan has delivered!”  

“Do you know _how_ he got Matthew?!” Arthur asked, “Or what he has done to him!? You haven’t seen _the video,_ have you?!”

This admission seemed to hit Francis in the way Arthur planned, his eyes widened and his lip quivered slightly, _“What video?”_ Suddenly, a gunshot sounded off from somewhere else in the school, instantly, Arthur and Francis froze.

“Mathieu,” Francis gasped, quickly making a dash for the door, escaping into the hallway, with Arthur in hot pursuit.

“YOU’RE NOT GETTING AWAY FROM ME!” Arthur roared as he chased Francis. He was not going to rest until the Frenchman had suffered, just like what he put Allistor through, but to Arthurs disadvantage: Francis was a faster runner. Arthur shot at Francis’ feet as he ran, wanting to inflict as much pain on Francis as he could! The Frenchman avoided Arthur’s shots by dashing to different sides of the hallway, not giving Arthur the opportunity to properly aim.

Suddenly, Francis turned into a room and Arthur followed.

Alfred was already there, standing near Matthew and Ivan. However, Francis completely ignored Alfred, seeing that Ivan was holding a gun to Matthews head.

“NON!” Francis snapped, slapping the gun away from Matthews head as he forced himself between them, growling at the Russian like a dog, _“I warned you that if you dare to hurt him—”_

“I was only threatening!” Ivan whined, “I wasn’t going to _actually_ shoot him! Calm down! You’re like a mother-bear!!”

“Well, who wouldn’t panic!? What were you thinking?! You could have hurt him!!” Francis snapped.

By this time, Arthur finally made it to the classroom, standing beside Alfred, catching his breath. With this, Alfred breathed a sigh of relief, “thank God…”

Remembering that they were not alone, Francis and Ivan silenced their bickering and pointed both of their weapons at Alfred and Arthur. 

“It doesn’t have to end like this!” Alfred pointed out.

“I’m not in the mood for making deals…” Ivan grumbled.

“Alfred!” Matthew cried, “I’m so sorry! Please, get out of here!”

“How the hell did you find us?!” Ivan snapped, “I left nothing behind! No clues! Nothing! I didn’t even send a second video!”

Francis turned to Ivan and snapped, “I want to see this _video_ that everyone keeps talking about?! What did you do!?”

Matthew sighed as a small smile lined this thin lips, he glanced up at Ivan as he chuckled, “Oops…”

 _“You little SHIT!!”_ Ivan hissed angrily as he lifted his gun again, pushing Francis out of the way of his aim to Matthew.

“MATHIEU!” Francis screamed as Ivan pulled the trigger just as Francis pushed Matthew back and stood in the way, taking the bullet into his chest. Francis’ chest exploded with bright red colour as he stumbled back, his eyes wide with shock. Francis fell back, landing into Matthews arms as he slowly brought him to the floor.

Matthew screamed as Francis coughed, blood spurting out of his mouth, “NON!! PAPA!! PAPA!! PLEASE DON’T GO!! I’M SO SORRY!!” Matthew wheezed as Francis held on tightly to his hand, despite his situation, he still smiled at Matthew, rubbing the Canadians hand against his cheek, as though trying to hide the fact that he could no longer breathe.    

“No way…” Alfred gasped, choking on his own tears, struggling to remain composed. Arthur knew that Alfred wanted nothing more than to run to Matthew and support him, but the unstable Russian held him back.

“DON’T! LET GO OF ME!! NO!! PAPA!! JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!!” Matthew screamed as Ivan pulled Matthew away. The stress that Ivan was enduring became obvious on his face, he moved frantically as he pulled Matthew back towards the back door, being sure to keep his gun near Matthews’s face, despite the fact that Matthew was still screaming over his father.

“What a shame too,” Ivan murmured, being sure to watch Alfred and Arthur as he pulled Matthew towards the back room, “He just got his son back too!”

Inside of the next room was something that Arthur wasn’t prepared to see. Propped on a table in the centre of the small room was a large black device, the device had a small control panel, with a couple of buttons and cables running from all of its sides to all similar black boxes that were scattered around the room. Arthur recognised these devices: Bombs, it was as though the room had been wired to serve as a bomb itself, and its detonation would be big enough to wipe out the whole neighbourhood if they aren’t careful.

“It’s over, Ivan!!” Arthur barked, not afraid to step forward, which only angered the Russian more, “you don’t have to die too!”

“No, it’s over… I do…” Ivan hissed as he smashed his hand on the control panel, and immediately, lights on the black device lit up, as a small humming noise began.

Matthew shuddered, realising what the noise was, Matthew’s voice had become scratched and tired from the relentless screaming and crying. “NO!! YOU NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE!! IT’S GOING TO BLOW UP!!”

“I was going to save this for the CIA offices, but I suppose this bomb is big enough to destroy the neighbourhood! So this will have to do! I may die here, but I swear; this won’t be the last time that you’ll hear my name!”

“What did you do?!” Alfred asked as Ivan pulled Matthew away from the bomb, getting a couple of metres away from it before Alfred snapped, finally breaking into tears, “JUST LET HIM GO!!”

However, before Alfred received an answer, Matthew snapped, elbowing Ivan in the stomach and hitting the gun away. Instead of running away, Matthew grabbed Ivan by the scarf and running behind him. Ivan gasped as he realised what Matthew was doing, and tried to fight it, “DO IT NOW! SHOOT!”

“Without a second thought, Alfred shot his weapon, firing direction into the Russian’s chest, and Arthur delivered a second shot to his stomach. Matthew released Ivan and let him fall to the ground with a _thud._ Matthew’s legs trembled as he stood alone, looking at Alfred and Arthur, like he was struggling to believe what had just happened himself.

“MATT!!” Alfred cried as he ran to Matthew, and Matthew broke into a run, meeting him halfway. Before either of them could say anything, they ran into each other and into a tight hug, both breaking into sobs.

“I’M SO SORRY!!” Matthew wheezed, holding on tightly to his friend.

“NO! I AM!!” Alfred wept.

“OI!” Arthur snapped, catching the attention of the North Americans as he made his way towards the bomb, “What can we do about this?! How long do we have?!”

“I…. I think we have around ten minutes,” Matthew explained as he and Alfred joined Arthur by the bomb.

“That’s a long lasting bomb…” Arthur pointed out.

“It’s… OK. So, the energy builds here, and then it spreads to all of the other bombs, building pressure and then, when there’s too much pressure: the bomb goes off,” Matthew explained, “it’s Ivans design, and… I tried my best to stall everything that he was having me do… But… As soon as Papa came, there was nothing I could do to stop it. This bomb will wipe out the whole neighbourhood, it’ll destroy everything! People live around here, we can’t let it go off!”

“It’s ok, we’re here now, we’ll stop it,” Alfred promised. “How do we stop it?”

“Can we stop it?” Arthur asked.

Both agents looked to Matthew, who looked deep in thought, Matthew sighed, “Yeah. You two need to find Ivans car, it’s parked near the basketball courts on the other side of the school. It has the toolbox in it.”

Alfred was the one to begin, “Alright, Arthur—“

“No!” Matthew interrupted, “You both need to go!”

Arthur frowned, “Why?”

“The car is rigged,” Matthew explained, “If someone doesn’t hold the trunk open, it will shut and cut anything off that’s in the way. Including hands. You’re strong Alfred, you can hold the boot open as Arthur grabs the box, and it’d only take a second. It’s the only car there.” 

“What about you?” Arthur asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I have to stay and begin the disarming,” Matthew explained, “If I release the pressure, it will take longer to build up and explode. Please, hurry!!”

“RIGHT!” Alfred cried immediately breaking into a sprint without looking back.

Arthur, however, remained where he stood, staring at the trembling Canadian, “There is no car, is there?”

Matthew shuddered, as he broke into tears, “No… Just get Alfred out of the building and keep him out. I’m going to make sure that this bomb doesn’t hurt anybody…”

“You’re going to set it off early?” Arthur asked, “That’s suicidal, Matthew, just come with us and we can evacuate—“

“In less than ten minutes?!” Matthew snapped, breathing heavily as the reality of his situation dawned upon him, “I don’t care what happens to me anymore. I’ve messed up too many times. I don’t want anyone else to die because of me!!”

“You don’t have to do this, please, just come with us…” Arthur whispered.

“No, someone needs to stay here. I’m going to detonate the bomb early, so the impact isn’t as bad…” Matthew explained. “Tell Ludwig and Feli that I’m sorry, and that I appreciate everything that they did for me, I owe everything to them, they gave me a second chance when my life was over…” Arthur nodded as Matthew hung his head, sobbing as he spoke, “And Alfred, look after him for me, he’s the best friend that I’ve ever had…”

“Matthew…” Arthur whispered.

“OH!” Matthew snapped, suddenly looking at Arthur, “London!”

“What?”

“There were three more people that were working with Braginski, they had a whole other project going on! I heard them talking, and I think they have something terrible planned for London, and MI5! You have to be careful!”

“I will, I will,” Arthur promised.

“Heh, I couldn’t believe it when I saw you there. They got THE Agent Arthur Kirkland to come and help me… I… Thank you… It’s an honour.” Suddenly, Matthew’s eyes widened, “you need to go, now! But before you do! You need the code to fix the CIA system!” Matthew took a small piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to Arthur, “I stole it from Ivan, it should help Feli fix the entire system, get that to him!”

“I will.” Arthur nodded, “You’re doing a very brave thing, Matthew. I’m sorry that our first meeting had to be like this, you are truly as good as everyone said you are.” 

Matthew smiled as Alfred ran into the room, breaking their conversation, _“The fuck are you doing, Arthur?! I got halfway there and had to run back! COME ON!!”_

“Right!” Arthur replied, before looking back at Matthew, who refused to show Alfred his tears, “Good luck…”

“Thank you…” Matthew sighed as Arthur and Alfred ran out of the room, leaving Matthew alone with the device.

As they ran through the halls of the abandoned high school, Arthur struggled to keep himself together, thinking about what Matthew was doing brought him to the brink of tears. He couldn’t believe he was letting Matthew do this, the second Arthur left the room with Alfred, he knew that he was making a decision was going to haunt him for the rest of his life.

Finally, they made it to the basketball courts; the grass beyond the concrete court was just as unkempt as the front of the school. And sadly, there was no car in sight. Alfred was determined to find the car that Matthew described, Arthur however, wasn’t as confident.

“Where the fuck is it?!” Alfred cried as he ran around like a lost child, growing more and more frantic by the second. Arthur couldn’t take it anymore; he looked away from Alfred and released a deep wheeze, feeling the tears form in his eyes. Matthew’s sacrifice had hurt him enough; and the pain of watching Alfred fall for it pushed him over the edge. “ARTHUR! _HELP ME FIND IT!”_

Arthur couldn’t handle it anymore; his head fell into his hands as the Englishman began to cry. Everything had just become too much, he lost control and once he started crying, he couldn’t stop. Arthur gasped when he felt Alfred’s hands on his shoulders and turned him around to look at Alfred.

“What’s going on?! Are you ok?!” Arthur looked up at Alfred and finally revealed the extent of his tears to Alfred, who cupped the Englishman’s face, wiping away some tears from Arthur’s cheeks with his thumbs.  “What… What is…?”

 _“I’m so sorry, Alfred…”_ Arthur whimpered.

Arthur watched with fear as Alfred’s expression changed, as the realisation hit the American like a truck. Alfred’s eyes widened, as though he were a deer in headlights, “No…”

“Alfre—“

“NO!!” Alfred screamed as he dashed past Arthur, trying to run back to the school building. Staying true to his promise with Matthew, Arthur ran after Alfred and stopped him the only way he could: Arthur jumped on the Americans back and tackled him to the ground, holding onto him tightly in a way to restrain him, but not hurt him. _“LET GO OF ME!! FUCKING LET GO OF ME!! I HAVE TO GET HIM OUT OF THERE!! FUCKING LET GO OF ME, ARTHUR!!_

 _“I’M SO SORRY, ALFRED!”_ Arthur wheezed, despite how hard he wanted to join Alfred and drag Matthew out of there, he can’t risk them both dying in there, _”But I made a promise.”_

 _“FUCKING LET ME GO OR I SWEAR!! ARRRHHHH!!”_ Alfred screamed, trying his best to push Arthur off of him, before eventually getting him off. But before Alfred could rise to his feet, Arthur knocked him down, despite this; Alfred squirmed as he tried to crawl on the crumbing concrete, trying desperately to get to the building. “ _LET ME SAVE HIM!! MATT!! OH MY GOD!! MATT!! MATT!!! NO!!!”_

To Alfred’s horror, the ground began to shake and a loud _boom_ echoed through the school. Alfred and Arthur watched I shock as the school building collapsed to the ground from the force of a powerful explosion. Arthur closed his eyes and held on tightly to Alfred as a cloud of dust completely engulfed them. Despite the loudness of the destruction caused by the explosion, Arthur could still hear Alfred crying and cursing.

Surely… The American must hate Arthur’s guts… Arthur held on as tightly as he could to Alfred, leaning in closely to shield his face from the dust that blanketed the Agents.

\-----

Alfred felt as though a piece of him was missing now… The person that he spent every day with was gone, and no one could possibly fill the hole in Alfred’s heart that he left behind. Even thinking about him drove Alfred to tears. He hadn’t spoken to anyone, not Arthur, not Ludwig or Feliciano…

He spent days in his apartment, curled up in bed trying to pretend that everything was going to be ok. He couldn’t see any reasons to joke or pretend that he was fine…

However, he did return to the office on the seventh day… He knew that he wasn’t the only one suffering…

He opened the door to Ludwig’s office to see that he was correct, Feliciano cried loudly into Ludwig’s chest as the German held onto him tightly, trying his best to look as though he was in control, but Alfred could see the layer of tears in the Germans icy blue eyes.

Quickly, they noticed his presence and Feliciano ran from Ludwig’s arms and into Alfred’s continuing to cry loudly, whispering promises that everything was going to be ok. Despite Feliciano’s sweetness, Alfred could not bring himself to smile.

“Alfred, if you need more time off…” Ludwig explained, his voice trailing off when he saw the look in Alfred’s eyes.

“When’s Arthur coming back?” Alfred asked.

At the mention of Arthur’s name, Ludwig and Feliciano froze, which sent a shiver down Alfred’s spine.

“Alfred… Arthur works for MI5… Not the CIA…” Ludwig explained, “He had to return to London, he left three days ago…”

“W-what…?” Alfred murmured, his eyes widening as his chest tightened from the sensation of a new pain; heartbreak.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Thank you so much for taking the time to read Skyrider, I really appreciate it. 
> 
> I just wanted to let everyone know that the sequel is in the works. It's going to be called Free Fall. 
> 
> Let's just say: Matthew was right about Ivan having plans for London, there is a new mystery to be solved as another agent goes missing and a new weapon threatens to destroy the city.
> 
> I really hope you have enjoyed the story and stay tuned for the sequel


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